
Glass. 
Book. 






/^KETCHES 




1 


^(31 



LIFE AND CHARACTER IN LOUISIANA, 



THE PORTRAl'rs SELECTED PRINCIPALLY FROM THE 



// 



BENCH AND BAR, 



BY A MSMBEK Of THE BW OKISAHS BAR, 
NEW ORLEANS: 

FEKGUSON fc CROSBY, PUBLISHERS. 

1847= 



PREFACE. 



The Sketches published in the following little work, appeared originally in the 
columns of the Bee and Jefiersonian, over the signaturo of " W.". At the request of 
•some of the friends of the author, who esteemed them (jjerhaps too flatteringly), as worth 
preserving, they haTe been extended, revised and collected in their present form. Im- 
perfect, it is feared, and incomplete, the amusement of a few hours of leisure snatched 
from other, and more engrossing pursuits, embracing by no means all among the lead- 
ing members of the Orleans Bar, they are presented to the public, with the hope that 
they may aot prove entirely iinacceptabk. 



SKETCHES. 



Unrivalled as is the Crescent City as the seat of Commerce, it is a subject 
of pride to the observing citizen that genius, eloquence, art and science are 
here raising temples where votaries may worship and acknowledge the present 
deities. It is the intention of the writer to sketch with a critical pencil some 
of our most distinguished orators of the Pulpit and members of the Bar. Mov- 
ing himself in an undistinguished sphere, he will scan, with an unpredjudiced 
eye, tlie world around him — he will invoke the spirit of truth, that she may 
cover him with her clear, transparent veil, that virtue may shine forth in all 
her blessed loveliness, and vice find no shelter upon a page where the writer 
would seek to liold a mirror up to nature. 

HENNEN AND MAZUREAU. 

The old silver-haired counsellor — the rftan of authorities — the erudite linguist 
— the learned repository of lore, whether legal philosophical, or scientific — the 
sciolist — the sage — the courteous gentleman — the worldly man — the friend and 
instructor of young and aspiring men — the aristocrat — the democrat — the ad- 
mirer of distinction, Wealth and power — the man of unbounded industry — the 
trustworthy friend — the fond and uncompromising parent — this man, Alfred 
Hennen, centres in himself such strange extremes, that it becomes almost im- 
possible to draw a faithful picture. 

As a mere advocate we discover little that places him above the ordinary 
jiractitioners at our bar ; yet long experience and observation of the laws and 
usages of his adopted State, give him a decided superiority, and render him a 
most valuable and desirable counsellor. His manner as a speaker is good, and 
calculated to hold the attention of his auditors. His aspect is venerable and 
pleasing ; the picture of strong, healthy, and temperate old age. Few mea 
excel him in courtesy of manner, few are more agreeable in conversation. Pe- 
culiarly addicted to questioning youth, this custom forms a striking trait of 
his manner in every day life ; his conversation abounding in questions, whether 
associated with domestic concerns, or business out of doors. He has been, 
;md still is. I beliove. a 2'reat roll'^ctor nf books and manuscripts, and to one of 



n SKETCHES, 

the most extensive law libraries iiitJie city, addt;. probably: tbe groateit collec- 
tion of old authors, edition upon edition, useless or otherwise, to be found in the 
South. 

Mr. Hennen has, through a long life, set an example of total abstinence. 
To this cause we may greatly attribute his success in life, the accumulation of 
a handsome property, and the respectable position he holds in our city. Advo- 
cate as the writer is, of the cause of temperance, he cannot forbear pointing to 
this gentleman, as a shining example of its practical effects. So noted has 
Mr. Hennen become in this respect, that he has received from Father Matthew 
the most honorable token ever conferred by the great Irish reformer, upon the 
distinguished advocates of this noble cause. We may further state, in this 
connexion, that Mr. Hennen appears to be a man of exemplary piety, and 
strict in his attendance upon the ordinances of our holy religion. I remember 
him some time since, as an examiner of young candidates for admission to tlie 
bar, and as quite a bug-bear to them, from his intimate acquaintance with the 
institutes of Justinian. As a lawyer and a gentleman, he is an ornament to 
the city he has made his home, and deserves worthy and lionorable mention 
in these Sketches. 

We pass, in the second place, to an intellectual giant, who for years has 
been one of the choice and leading spirits at our bar — Etienne Mazureau. 
It would be difficult to select two men more unlike in character or abilities, 
than Hennen and Mazukeau, journeying, as they have been, side by side on the 
same route. As Attorney General, Mazureau has not, as yet, seen his superior 
in Louisiana. Appointed to this post, by several successive Governors, he 
seemed to hold by a certain prescriptive right, the high office, to which he 
brought a talent and industry that will ever entitle him to the respect and 
admiration of his contemporaries. 

Roselius and Preston have since thrown around the Attorney Generalship so 
much of dignity, have worn their honors with so much distinction, that we 
cannot place them in a rank below Mazureau. They have all done well and 
worthily, and it shall not be my task to lessen any of them by drawing invidi- 
ous comparisons. 

Mazureau is not now what he has been. Tn>jn fail ct magiia gloria Tro- 
janorum. Though still we observe in his intellectual displays, much of that 
majesty of diction, splendor of imagery, and force of gesture, which made him 
once unrivalled, as an orator, in our courts, yet the fire of youth has, in a 
measure, passed av/ay ; and the great lawyer, the brilliant, persuasive, and 
convincing advocate, yields before tlie approach of age; he yields, but in yield- 
ing, we )iote majesty in the decline^ and we ?till admire the grandeur of an 
intellect unclouded — unob.'^curod. 



SKETCHES. 7 

This advocate appears to the best advantage in his own language, tliougli 
even in English, he excels as a speaker. Few among us possess a greater 
share of intellectual culture, few are more agreeable in conversation. In the 
past history of Louisiana, anecdotes of distinguished men, the legends of our 
early day, politics, law, and science, MAZUREAt; is a mine of intellectual 
wealth. One of the old lawyers, who survive to us from the school which em- 
braced an Ellery, a Porter, a Livingston, a Moreau Lislet, Mazureau is a link 
which connects us with many in the past — great, distinguished, illustrious. 
Would you desire evidence of his acute logic, his profound knowledge of the 
law, and his power of working conviction, read for yourself the reported case 
of Gravier et al. vs. Livingston et al., in Martin's Old Series. A native of 
France, though for many years a citizen of Louisiana, Mazureau is one 
whom I feel proud to acknowledge as a worthy man, and a great one. 

Hennen and Mazureau. — We see few points of resemblance, many of con- 
trast. The bar owes much to both. They have lived through the infancy of 
the great State, they have contributed to its prosperity, and may they participate 
in its renown. Mazureau, both as legislator and advocate, has his name 
connected with the history of our State. He has gained for himself fame 
as a great lawyer, and should be placed not second to Grymes, in all the quali- 
ties that contribute to form the distinguished civilian, the nice, discriminating 
reasoner. 



GMMES AND PRESTON. 

John R. Grymes stands among the the members of our bar, as in times past, 
first in skill as a logician, ready in the command of authorities, choice in the 
terms he employs to express his meaning ; grave, calm, dignified, parliamentary 
in manner and in gesture. Advanced as he is in years, he still maintains his 
supremacy and povi^er at the New Orleans bar. In figure, he is tall, spare and 
well formed, and exhibits the appearance of a young man in many respects ; nor 
does he seem to have lost, in the progress of years, the activity of his step, or 
the vigor of his frame. In dress, he still appears as the younger members of the 
bar, and associates with all on equal terms. Previous to his appearance in any 
cause, he may be observed walking with calm and measured step in the court 
room, lost in thought, and apparently unobservant of all that is passing. He 
reminds me of an old Roman, as he often thus moves by, with a countenance lit 
up with expression and intelligence, though so calm that one would hardly sup- 
pose the subtle advocate was weaving, at the moment, some difficult web to en- 
snare an adversary. Mr. Grymes is by no means an eloquent man, in the usual 
meaning of the term, though his mamier is impressive and earnest, and would be 
perhaps, oratorical, if he feared not to depart, by such a course, from the end he 
has in view, of convincing by force of argument. The civil law, in all its in- 
tricacies, seems to liim as familiar as household words, and in his hands points 
out distinctly and correctly, the links of the chain by which it holds together the 
various relations of life among us, in one harmonious whole. 

Wonderfully cool and cpUected, as an advocate, this gentleman never stiffers 
himseK to be disturbed, either by judge or opponent ; but ever calm, he faces his 
adversary, and hesitates not to meet undauntedly every species of opposition. 
An unconquerable firmness, that approaches a stronger quality, characterizes this 
counsellor. There are some who have tried to imitate this audacity, but they 
have learnt to their cost, that however permissible in him we describe, it is 
sometimes not unattended with danger, in men of less nerve and consideration. 

He is probably at this time over sixty years of age, though he would not, I am 
convinced, be taken for more than forty-five. He is occasionally facetious, and 
indulges himself sometimes with ludicrous dryness, at the expense of some of his 
confreres. An instance occurs to me of a mere play upon words, which I 
heard of some months since. A gentleman who lias long presided in our Crim- 
inal Court, (when known by that name), was on one occasion at a loss to cik 



SKETCHES. 9 

the name of a cape ; lie hesitated for some time, the word cap-cap-cap, trembled 
on his lips, when our facetious counsellor came to his aid, with the following : 
" Le juge, je pense a besoin de cap-a-citer.'''' Kjeu d'esprit, so well timed, could 
scarce be conceived. 

Another anecdote I have heard, characteristic of Mr. Grvmes. Called on 
one occasion to attend to some legal business for a man of noted wealth, not far 
from New Orleans, he received an invitation at the same time to breakfast. His 
client being a very abstemious man, offered his visiter the same fare that he 
himself was accustomed to, to-wit : a bowl of bread and milk. Our advocate, 
not altogether accustomed to so primitive a diet, arose and taking his hat bade his 
host good morning ; at the same time advising him, that after he had taken break- 
fast, he would again have the pleasure of waiting upon him. Nor could the 
dismayed millionaire prevail upon the worthy counsellor to depart from his 
determination. 

Isaac T. Preston next presents himself to us as worthy of a place by the 
side of this great lawyer, though widely differing from him. Mr. Preston is 
in many respects, an eloquent man ; yet far inferior to his brother, William C. 
Preston, of South Carolina, in the graces of the orator. I have often hung with 
delight upon the words that fell from the lips of the younger brother ; and 
in the beauty of his metaphors, in the elegance of his gestures, in the enthusi- 
asm and warmth which glow in his language, he ranks, I think, first among 
living American orators. If our Preston labors more ; if he has greater diffi- 
culty in pouring forth his thoughts ; if he cannot illustrate, with the beauty and 
imagery, which delight the ear and charm the sense, he can yet breathe forth, in 
strong, forcible language, his sentiments ; he can come home, readily, to the com- 
mon mind ; and a close observer of men, he can sometimes touch, with a master 
hand, the springs of action. 

Mr. Preston's profound knowledge of the law, his long experience, and well 
known industry, point him out as one eminently fitted for the highest judicial 
station. As a statesman, as a politician, as a man, there are few more influen- 
tial among us — few more worthy of confidence. A social man, his house the 
abode of hospitality, the true Virginian, in recognizing the courtesies and 
amcEnities of life, Preston has many friends to admire, many to love him. 

He bears in his features, the stamp of the honest man — one alive to the wants 
of others ; a soul of truth, generosity and nobleness. His is not a mind attuned 
to the order, the system, the regularity of Grymes. If he wants these, he is 
at the same time more original, more a man of the people. Singular that botli 
these men should be democrats. Republicanism is stamped in the countenance 
of Preston, and aristocracy in the features of Grymes. We see in one, a man 
built in a heavy mould, features coarse, heavy — an expression almost indolent ; 



10 . SKETCHES. 

in the other, one who must have been in youtli eminently handsome ; still well" 
proportioned and elegant — the perfect picture in manner and appearance, of an 
old Roman patrician. 

Pkeston is a good lawyer, anxl an able advocate ; has filled some of the first 
offices of the State, and may, perhaps, still stand in a more advanced position. 
Grymes need not desire more eminence than he has now ; for the fame of a 
great lawyer, and undoubtedly he is first at a bar where there are many great 
advocates, is, in my estimation, the ultimatmii to which an American citizen 
may aspire. The honors of the State are tlie gift of others ; this species of 
greatness is the achievement of the man. 



CARLTON AND CANON. 

We have not in New Orleans two individuals more worthy of note than these", 
and we place them together under the impression, that in the nature of their 
pursuits, and in the cherished objects of their lives, there is something of a 
congenial spirit. 

A native of France, his ea,rly life, crowded v/itli singular adventures and 
romanticincidents,the first portion of Canon's life was passed upon the ocean. 
As the citizen of Louisiana, the legislator, the lawyer, and the writer, I allude to 
this interesting gentleman with pleasure and satisfaction. In contemplating a 
character of such various attainments, of such worth and excellence, while proud 
of my subject, I yet feel my inability of doing it entire justice. 

Judge Canon is apparently some fifty years of age, and is rather below the 
middle height. His features are expressive and animated, his complexion 
dark, hs eyes black, piercing, and restless. Intelligence of a high order is 
stamped upon a countenance at once engaging and striking. Speaking En- 
glish as well as his mother tongue, he employs indifltrently, the one or the other, 
as suits his auditors on the occasion. 

.\s a mem.ber of the State I-egislature, he vras tlic active., energetiC; businer?;; 



sKi-:'r(i]i>. 5 J 

Viiau. Ever occupied in liaslening forward import-ant measures before the 
House, he was a man of influence to whom others looked up, as the worthy 
Tidviser, the safe and politic statesman. While speaking, he was always lis- 
tened to with respect and attention, his harangues ever abounding in sparkling 
sentences, facetious allusions, and apiMsite illustrations. 

As a lawyer, he is acute, discerning, and thorough. No man is better capa- 
ble of disentangling the subtle webs with which special pleading so often sur- 
round litigated cases. Industry, assiduity, research, that know not fatigue, 
characterise tliis excellent specimen of the legal school. Not eloquent, he is 
yet the close reasoner, the interesting advocate. A long, useful, and prosper- 
ous career has at length conducted him to the Bench ; a goal which his worth, 
talent, and ability so richly merit. Nor can the judicial tribunals of Louisiana 
boast of a better man— a more accomplished and upright Judge. 

He is a forcible and lucid writer. His legal articles are replete with acumen 
und research, bearing ever the impress of a vigorous intellect. Without, how- 
ever, limiting himself to legal topics, he writes with elegance upon any sub- 
ject, whether literary or scientific. 

Judge Carlton next draws tiie attention. A worthy m^an, and further, an 
elegant wi'iter, a close reasoner, an excellent judicial magistrate. The early 
career of this venerable and accomplished gentleman, was very different from 
that of the young sailor. Canon. It was one, that the character since acquired 
by him as a civilian and jurist considered, should be the theme of encourage- 
ment to many a young man among us. He commenced the world as an in 
structor of youth, and in this occupation continued until advised by a friend to 
seek another more congenial to his talents. He soon became a worthy and 
successful lawyer. Early he turned his attention to the translation of Las 
Siete Pariidas, the principal Spanish Code, long in force in our State, and with 
the assistance of Moreau, gave to the bar an elegant version, which is still 
regarded as valuable. Carlton was finally raised to the Supreme Bench, and 
presided there for some time with distinction. 

Judge Carlton is still fond of literary pursuits, and devotes much time to 
them. His " Eight Days in England" is regarded as an excellent production, 
and has been highly complimented on the other side of the water, by as good a 
judge as Sir Robert Peel. Peculiarly fond of rustic scenes, he still adheres 
to the romance of his youth. Though he sees, one would suppose, little in 
our flat country to remind him of the beautiful scenery of his native State, yet 
he is still a lover of forest scenery, however tame, however wanting in the 
picturesque. Bordering upon one of our prettiest villages, on the banks of the 
Bogue Falaya, the old Virginian has cut paths through the forest in all direc- 
tions in manv a labyrinthine maze, and here, I learn, he was wont often to repair. 



12 SKETCHES. 

A beautiful taste is that that leads the mind to solitude, which, the ambitious 
hopes of life accomplished, is welcomed as a friend, as a solace ! 

As a speaker, Carlton is still in some degree interesting. His discourse 
abounds in anecdotes and pleasing illustrations. Still eloquent with his pen, 
his lips should be sealed. 

Judge Carlton is a great admirer of the heau sexe, and is, I believe, much 
of a favorite, from the politeness of his manners, and the elegance of his con- 
versation. A preux chevalier, he is a worthy pattern to many younger men. 
The Judge is above sixty years of age, though still possessed of many of 
the graces of youth. It is not my intention to delineate the contrast be- 
tween the two interesting characters I have faintly depicted. Essentially dif- 
ferent in physical and mental organization, there is only a certain congeniality 
of pursuit that brings them together in this .relation. We leave tliem both 
"with regret, and wish the limits of our sketch permitted us to be more full 
and explicit. 



SOULE AND ROSELIUS. 

I select, in my present number, two of our advocates most unlike in the 
character of their minds. One of these men stands prominently forth as an 
orator ; graceful, impassioned, forcible ; the other a plain speaker — a man of 
many words, and yet correct, strong and full of hard common sense. 

I have heard Soule in the Legislature, in the Convention, and in Court. In 
his own language he stands now unrivalled at the Orleans bar, and even in 
English, though we see him restrained, cramped by a fearfulness of neglecting 
grammatical rules, he yet holds a distinguished place among our best'speakers. 
He has all the fire of the French revolutionary orator — all the force of the 
American character. Growing up in the midst of institutions tending to 
quicken every element of greatness, he has well used the talents entrusted to 
his keeping. To distinction as a debater, as an eloquent advocate, he adds a^l 



SKETCHES. 13 

the requisites of an able lawyer, and the erudition so necessary to one wlio 
would shine in a civil law court. 

His striking and noble appearance attracts the eye of the stranger, and one 
feels curious always to discover the name of one, whose mein so powerfully 
arrests the attention. He is about the middle height, his eyes dark and pier- 
cing, his hair raven black, and worn long and upon his shoulders, his age, per- 
haps forty. His countenance, in a state of repose, is handsome and mild in 
expression ; when excited by passion or stirred by enthusiasm, it is as speaking 
and eloquent a face as I ever saw. Nature has done much for him, and he has 
not declined the assistance of art ; but so well does she conceal her favors, 
that we attribute every gesture, every movement of the orator to the first and 
best author, Nature. 

Mr. SouLE is a prominent member of the democratic party in New Orleans, 
and was recently called to represent his adopted State in the Senate of the 
United States. The future seems to promise still more for him, or even all 
that he may demand at the hands of his fellow-citizens. He is a native of 
France, and left that country, it is said, in consequence of his having, in a 
public print, too warmly advocated popular rights. The many years he has 
passed in the United States, have so identified him with the interests of the 
country, that he seems no more an adopted citizen. 

The gentleman we have mentioned in connexion with him. Christian Ro- 
sELius, Esq., has been, in every sense, the architect of his own fortunes. 
Rising from an inferior station of life, contending with every disadvantage, he 
now stands at the very head of the Orleans bar. The poor redemptioner 
struggling with poverty in a land of strangers ; his very labor for months, 
anothers ; without friends, toiling along the rugged paths of adversity, ignorant 
of the smiles, the joys of love, of friendship or of home, overcomes all difficul- 
ties, overleaps eveiy obstacle, and arises by his own unassisted exertions to be- 
come a leading citizen, a distinguished advocate, an Attorney-General. Here 
is a career without example in our annaLs ! Here is an example of what energy, 
poverty, privation, and perseverance can do for him that will endure even unto 
the end ! 

RosELius is an excellent scholar, and an adept in several languages. He 
has no superior at our bar as a lawyer, and, in his share of business, has few 
or no equals. In his disposition, he is munificent to a fault, and has given 
more, perhaps, to his friends, than he has put into his pockets ; for though his 
business is heavy and extensive, yet he is far from being rich. As a speaker, 
he is forcible, though, perhaps, a little tedious ; and, in the effort to excel as an 
orator, he sometimes forgets that eloquence is not his forte. He is, however, a 
clear and effective reasoner. never loses sight of his artrnmcnt in the searcli 



14 SKETCHES. 

after elegant expressions, or in rouiiding off srnootli and silver-toned periods. 
His rough and hardy exterior indicate well the rugged character of a mind, 
which is made to meet obstacles and overcome them, better fitted for sturdy 
combat, than smooth and honeyed encounters. 

RosELius is a whig in poitics, and a highly esteemed member of his party. 
He is one made to adore any station however elevated. To him the cause of 
education owes much, as he has been most forward in establishing schools, 
and in seeking the improvement of the rising generation. Few men are his 
superiors in the gifts of conversation. He has a mind well stored with useful 
and interesting facts. In the treasure houses of history, in the walks of 
science he is perfectly at home, and few among us can surpass him in felicity 
of expression, or facility of illustration. Liberal in his views, elevated in his 
sentiments, despising chicanery and deception, in all its forms, he is the useful, 
high-minded, and truly worthy citizen. 

We bring not these men together for the purpose of comparison ; we seek 
in vain for resemblance. The very contrast, has associated them together in 
my mind. As men, they are among the most enlightened and influential of 
our city, and have neither of them yet entirely fulfilled the mission for which 
they are destined. 



THE BROTHERS OGDEN AND CONR/lD. 

A. N. Ogden, the lawyer, par excellence, of the three brothers, is rather 
Blight in figure, though well proportioned. Regardless of political distinction, 
he has devoted himself with untiring assiduity to his profession. 

The venerable Judge Matthews, we have understood, considered him as 
among the first in promise, at our bar. He is, indeed, every inch a lawyer. He 
is modest and unassuming; never putting liimself forward, or seeking the 
notoriety, which more shallow men so ardently covet ; and preferring tlie name 
of counsellor to that of judge, he has on one occasion declined a seat tendered 
lum on the Federal Bcncli, 



SKETCHES. 15 

As a speaker, he is chaste and elegant. His words are ever appropriate ; 
and his ideas, especially in legal matters, flow as it were uncalled, and in per- 
fect accordance with his subject. A quick observer of what is expected, he 
never speaks without effect, and never wearies his hearers by wire-drawn ar- 
guments, or long-winded speculations. This gentleman has a pleasing, ex- 
pressive countenance, and is easy in his carriage and manners. He is probably 
about thirty-eight years of age. 

R. N. Ogden can scarcely be said to rank on an equality with his elder 
brother. He has, however, obtained some character as a lawyer, and has pre- 
sided with credit and distinction, in the Second Judicial District Court. I 
remember an instance of his presence of mind that is really worthy of note. At 
the time when our adventurous and talented fellow-townsman, George W. 
Kendall, fell into the hands of the Mexicans, in the ill-starred Texan expedition, 
a mass meeting, it will be recollected, was called at Banks' Arcade. Seldom 
have we seen a more crowded assemblage. Seldom, even in New Orleans, 
is the ear saluted with a more perfect Babel of human voices, than then and 
there resounded through the spacious hall. Confusion worse confounded, was 
the order of the evening. Several had addressed the multitude with doubtful 
success. Ogden comes forward. In vain does he try to speak. With rare 
presence of mind, he raises his hand and points to the star-spangled banner, that 
waved above his head. Words were superfluous. The American banner that 
had been insulted, trampled on, thus appealed to, spoke to the hearts of that 
multitude a more thrilling language than the music or thunders of oratory. 
Portentous stillness, for a brief moment reigned — and anon, shouts, fierce and 
deafening, shook the arched and lofty hall — tlie ready response to so eloquent 
an appeal. 

The younger brother, is a member of the lower House of the State Legisla- 
ture. He is a prominent member ; an easy, though not an eloquent speaker. 
Much younger than either of his brothers, he holds at the same time, a credita- 
ble position in the State, and is already a lawyer of much promise. 

It will not be inappropriate, for me to introduce in this article, three other 
brothers, who are also members of the Louisiana bar. The name of Conrad, 
is a distinguished one in this State, and those bearing it are not unworthy of 
careful and studious mention. Yet, I must not so far depart from the plan of 
these sketches, as to weary my reader by too diff"use a notice. 

Frederick, the oldest of the brothers, while a member of the State Legisla- 
ture, served with distinction and ability. After a cai-eer at our bar, worthy of 
eulogium, he left the profession, and is now enjoying amid rural scenes, otium 
cum dignitaie. Conrad was a good civilian, and an able advocate. He is the 
frank, open-hearted friend; and the accomplished man of tlic workl. 



le SKETCHES. 

The second brother, Charles, is some forty-three years of age, and is a mart 
of remarkably polished and elegant manners. He served creditably in the State 
Legislature, and from this body was elected a Senator of the United States ; a 
distinguished honor, and one which we may very well conclude, he merited* 
Though not remarkable for eloquence, Charles Conrad is a fluent speaker. 
Far from being a great lawyer, his talents, both as civilian and advocate, are far 
above mediocrity. 

The younger brother, Francis, is at present, in the lower Hon se of the State 
Legislature, and proves himself a worthy and useful member. As a lawyer, he 
is not without claims to respect. 

I am induced in this connection, also to recall one, who, some years since, 
was a companion of mine in study ; a youth of shining talents and bril- 
liant expectations — a brother-in-law of Judge Ogden, and the son of one of 
our oldest and best citizens. Ill-fated Nicholson ! Thine was the elegance of 
form, the sweetness of manner and character, the expressive and animated 
countenance that attracted the eye, while they touched the heart. In the open- 
ino" bud of thy young promise, thou wast snatched from the arms of friendship, 
the caresses of a tender parent, the loving embraces of a beloved sister. Had 
thy life been spared,- thou wouldst have been an honor to thy native State ; 
already thou wast the pride of thy family. Ambitious after excellence, thy ac- 
quirements were beyond thy years. Industrious, laborious, polished in thy man- 
ners, agreeable in thy intercourse with others, thou wast a mirror for him who 
sought to be loved, who aspired after honor. While yet a stranger, I regarded 
thee with a brotherly affection ; when an associate, I wore thee in my heart 
of hearts. Let affection pause for a moment, and pay to thy memory a brief 
tribute, unworthy though it be, to one who, had he been spared to us, might 
have added a distinguished name to those that already adorn our bar. 

" Ostendunt terris hnnc tantum fata neque ultra. 

Esse sinunt — 

. Manibus date lilia plenis : 
Purpureos spargam flores animamque nepotis, 
His saltern adciimulem donis; et fungar inani » 

Munere!"' 



WILDE AND PRENTISS. 

Both bf these gentlemen have brought from other States great reputations. 
They have not grown up with our city, but have come here, where they trust, 
perhaps, to outshine our advocates. They will discover, however, that the field 
of competition is not an uncontested one ; that the men who wear the honors of 
the greatest, the noblest of professions, in New Orleans have won them legiti- 
mately, and not without severe toil and application, and they must wait as others 
have done before them. 

And yet are these men welcome aniong us. They are not common, every 
day comers, but men of learning and attainments. The first has crowned his 
brow with wreaths of poetry ; has gathered laurels as a writer ; has lived for 
years in Italy, among the " great of old" ; has made his voice heard in the halls 
of Congress. The second has culled the choicest flowers from the gardens of 
literature ; has been endued by Mercury with his most valued gift, eloquence ; 
has won applause in legislative hallsj and has gained renown in another State as 
an advocate, and as a lawyer. 

Wilde* is verging towards sixty years of age ; is pleasing as a speaker, 

*Tliis talented scholar, profound lawyer and accomplished gentleman, fell a victim to 
the yellow fever, the past summer. In him, the legal profession in Louisiana, experienced 
an irreparable loss, society, a void not easily fdled. Recently called to fdl the chair of 
('(institiuioual Law in the Law Department of the University of Louisiana, it will be 
dJIlicult 1(1 replace him. The angel of the pestilence, in snatching away a character so 
estimable, gave a fearful wound to friendsliip- — to affection ; for many were the friends 
this gentleman had secured, many the hearts he had endeared to him. With a nature 
attuned to the finest sympatliies, with a character full of all excellencies, with a mind 
cultivated to a high degree, abounding in the lore of the past, an author of no mean abili- 
ties, a poet, a, lawyer, an advocate — ^Richari) Henry WilJje combined in himself rare 
qualities — great elements. It was the study of his life to perfect a nature nobly endowed 
by a kindly Architect, nor did he arrive far short of the end of his being. This noble old 
advocate, who had won such golden opinions during the brief period that records his 
name among the members of the Louisiana bar, is no more. Those lips, on which dwelt 
so much of eloquence, which breathed ever kindness, are closed in death. The spark- 
ling witticism — the ready repartee, will from them be heard no more. The eye of mild- 
ness, intellect and genius, is closed in death, the noble form, that characterized a noble 
nature is now mingling with the sod. In this, we have seen tlie fellest, the most cruel 
stroke of the fearful scourge that visited New Orleans the present season. 

Meetings have twice been called, by both bench and bar, in New Orleans, to rendei" 
suitable honors to his memory. This is well — such citizens should be lionored. They 
should be held up as models of imitation, their worth appreciated, their names pro= 
iiouuccd with admiration and respect. 
3 



j8 SKETCH F.N. 

though far I'rom eloquent; is facetious, hiunoroiis, autl witty. Ho ih tali 
and noble in aspect, and possessed of a fine, intellectual countenance. His hair 
is " silvered o'er by time," and worn long. His general appearance is, upon the 
whole, strikingly elegant and indicative of the man of the world. It is 
difficult to pronounce what his attainments may be as a civil-law lawyer, but it 
is more than probable that while in Itahv collecting materials for his " Life of 
Tasso," that he drank often and deeply at the fountains of the civillaw. Living in 
the midst of institutions that ages have consecrated, under its influences it is 
not likely that a man of his intelligence and observation would neglect such an 
occasion for embuing himself thoroughly with the lore of the civil lavi-. 

Prentiss is quite a young man — certainly not more than forty. He lias a 
noble countenance, a fall expansive brow*, and very pleasing and e>:pressive 
features. He is a fine speaker ; full of sparkling metaphor, and elegant com- 
parison. His language, abounding in the choicest ftgvu-es of rhetoric, flows 
clear and pure as a mountain stream, and with almost equal rapidity. There is 
no hesitation ; no want of ideas, or words in which to clothe them. Li tlio poli- 
tics of his party, he is entirely at home, and speaks like an oracle. I have 
never heard him at the bar, but doubt not his ability as an advocate, though he 
cannot yet have much experience as a civil-law lawyer. 

Mr. Prentiss is a native of Maine, but has been for many years a citizen of 
Mississippi, where he commenced liis career as a teacher of j'oiith, though even- 
tually gaining in that State much celebrity as an advocate. Some two years 
since, I believe, he became a citizen of New Orleans. He Is an agreeable com- 
panion, and very courteous in his manners. Both Messrs. Wilde and^ Prsn- 
Tiss appear to be consistent politicians, and tnie to the party which claims them. 
As whigs, they are strong partisans, and bold heralds upon the watchtowers of 
whiggery. They come among us old in reputation, and one of them young in 
years, but must be regarded as new and mitried men, who have yet to show how 
far they will prove worthy of their adopted State. 

We could not pass over these gentlemen, in these sketches of our bar, though 
we should do httle justice to many, not so distinguished, and as yet unreferred 
to, did we not award them a far higher place in our list, as Louisiana lawyer.s, 
than to these new-comers. Ijaw is a great and jealous divinity, and tliey who 
worship her must leave all other arts behind them, and devote themselves entirely, 
untiringly at her altar. How far the pursuits of various elegant arts and the 
cultivation of literature tend to form the able lawyer, w'e cannot tell, but should- 
consider such pursuits as greatly at variance with black letter lore, or the icriHen 
reason, wrapped up in the antique folios of the old jurists ; and yet we have 
numornus authorities: to prove that liberal and elegant arts arc often combined 



SKETCHES. jg 

witii great leo-al eruJitiun. Unuumbered arc tlie o.xainplos in the liistory of 
EnglifjJi jdrisprudonce, and also in the coinls of France. 

Great, indeed, however, mnst be the mind which can divest itself of the 
gorgeous and elegant robes of fiction and poetry, and be clothed at once in the 
dull, musty, and unattractive apparel of the bar. It is only an uncommon and 
versatile genius that can win applause in both of these distinguished walks of 
life at the same time ; a Bacon, an Erskine, a Mansfield or a Brougham. Our 
section of country is not yet old enough, I think, to permit of our boasting such 
as these. He, in particular, who grows up in this Western country, finds him- 
self obliged to become acquainted superficially with such a mass of things, that 
it is difficult to be perfect in any one pursuit. If he does, however, excel in any 
particular profession, as in the law, he must be but a mere dabbler in other things 
— at any rate, 1 would greatly tlistrust that man, as a lawyer, who would permit 
political ambition, literary pursuits, or the dissipations of life, to withdraw him 
too often from worship in the courts of Themis. 



mms AND DAyD)SON. 

Men perfectly unlike in the cliaracter of their minds, form the subject of 
the present sketch. Jones is a Virginian by birth, Davidson a Mississippian, 
Holding a distinguished position among the lawyers of our piney-wcod settle- 
VTients, and Jong personally known to the writer, I shall strive to sketch with 
a correct and impartial pencil, men whom I not only highly esteem, but whoin 
I respect for their talents and attainments. 

Judge Jones studied law with his uncle in his native State, but was not admit- 
ted there, 1 believe, at the bar. His career commenced in Louisiana. Industri- 
tius, persevering, early thrown upon his ow-n resources, he first commenced ins 
struggles with the world, as a teacher of youth. This was some tliirty-five 
years since. He joined the army in 1814, and was stationed at the navy yard 
(n the Parish of Ht. Tannnanv- At tlic close of tlio war. we find him for some 



20 SKETCHES. 

time a teacher ia the town of Covington ; next sent to represent his parish iti 
the Legislature, and upon his return appointed Parish Judge, in which office 
he continued fourteen years. He was sent a second time to the Legislature 
where after serving two years he was appointed Judge of the Eighth District, 
in which office he continued eleven years, and until the establishment of our 
present constitution. Now, at the age of some sixty years, he has returned to 
the bar, bearing with him some thirty years' experience both as a lawyer and~a 
judge. Possessed of little brilliancy, his attainments are of tliat solid charac- 
ter which rendered him eminently worthy of the offices lie filled. Litegrity 
witliout blemish, a love of justice without partiality, liave ever marked his 
career as a judge. Call him an honest, upright, and just dealing man; he 
wants no better eulogium. Slow in rendering his decisions, he thorouglily 
studied his cases, and few of them, comparatively, have been reversed. Though 
a good lawyer, he claims little right to the name of advocate. Just, clear, and 
logical in his arguments, he yet possesses few, if any, of the graces of the 
ready speaker ; and although he states his views with accuracy, and in good 
language, yet he lacks the ability of enforcing his arguments with rhetorical 
art, or with the elegance of the practical declaimer. 

Judge Jones is about the middle height; is pleasing in his address, and wins 
the regard of all who know him intimately. In his conversation he is instruc- 
tive and interesting, and his wide experience of men and things renders him a 
wise and valuable counsellor. His industry, economy and attention to business 
have brought him wealth, while his character and manners have secured to Iiim 
the love and respect of a wide circle of attached friends. In the bosom of a 
lovely family, lie grows old amid all those blessings with which a worthy career 
ever surrounds the honorable and excellent citizen". 

In politics Judge Jones is a whig, and warmly attaclied to his views. With- 
out seeking distinction, he seems rather disposed to decline than run after the 
honors of political life. In religion ho is liberal, and without being attached to 
any sect, is yet a firm and conscientious christian. 

Thomas Green Davidson is some forty-two years of ago. About the mid- 
dle height, possessing features full of expression and intellect, Col. Davidson 
cannot fail at once to impress the stranger with interest and attention. Ilis con- 
versation is remarkable for wit and vivacity ; and few, if any, surpass him in 
the faculty of telling a good story well. Of lively fancy and imagination, the 
liappiest imagery, the choicest and most apt expressions are ever at his com- 
mand. He adapts himself at once to his auditor, and to the occasion, and is 
never for a moment wanting to himself or his subject. Strong in his attach- 
ments, violent in his dislikes, he at once secures numerous friends and makes 
Itittor enemies. Some twontv venrs a resident of Louisiann. ho lias served 



SKETCHES. 21 

vvitli lioiior in both Honsos of the Legislature, and in the outset of his career, 
was for a time Register of the Land Office in the Parish of St. Helena. lie 
was a strong and efficient member of the Legislature, and particularly while 
Senator, exercised an important influence upon the councils of the State. 

Yet, it is rather as a lawyer of "the Piney Woods," that I wish to speak of 
this gentleman. Among the advocates of the Florida Parishes he shines pre- 
eminently. Without great legal attainments, without the erudition arising from 
careful study, the annorum viginti lucrubraiiones, spoken of by Lord Coke as 
essential to forming the deep and thorough lawyer, without a liberal education, 
without the study of the models so requisite to acquiring perfection in the orator's 
art, Col. Davidson stands unrivalled in his section of the State, as the forcible 
tleclaimer, the eloquent advocate. Give to him a worthy subject, sketch for him 
the outlines fairly, and the various strong points, and throw it into his hands, few 
men can then surpass him in the rare and beautiful ornaments, the splendid and 
tasteful imagery, the strong and bold features and colorings, with which he will 
immediately invest it. The noble edifice arises, as it were by magic, under the 
plastic hand of the artist. Grand and powerful, when his subject requires it, his 
bold Grecian physiognomy expressing almost as much as the words that fall from 
his lips, his gesture admirable for grace and fitness, this advocate is an orator 
indeed. Conviction, persuasion, cannot fail to follow his appeals. 

I speak of him as I have heard him, in a great criminal case, where the life or 
death of an unfortunate man depended upon the result of the eloquence of the 
advocate. Yet, not in such cases alone, does he excel. Facetious as eloquent, 
humorous as forcible, abounding in anecdote and illustration, I have seen the 
court, jury, and bar carried away completely by his manner, and convulsed 
with most unseemly laughter. I have known but one advocate who could 
compare with him in this respect, James L. Petigru, of Charleston, South Car- 
olina ; one, who in the learning of the law and in eloquence, has few equals in 
the United States. 

Col. Davidson excels as a speaker, and this not at the bar alone. As a politi- 
cal speaker, he stands deser\'edly high. He is capable of filling with honor 
political station, and of representing with zeal and efibct, the wants and wishes 
of constituents. Democratic in his sentiments, he is the bold and uncompro- 
mising champion of the people's rights, and is not one to swerve from their in- 
terests. Fearless as eloquent, Davidson will never be found wanting in their 
cause. 

We have spoken of the want of resemblance between the gentlemen we have 
this day attempted to sketch, and if we have properly drawn the outlines of 
their characters, it will be needless to dwell upon this contrast ; a few words, 
however, and I close. 



22 SKETCHES. 

Jones i.s tlio LoUev lawyer, Davidson the belter advocate. The retired, qtiiet, 
and unassniiiiuy inaiiiiers of the one, contrast most strongly with the ready, as- 
piring, and captivating manners of the other. The first is fond of attention and 
respect, and yet does not seem to covet it ; the second is fond of praise and ap- 
])Iaiise, demand.^ them as a, right, and tlirows himself in their way. 

Judge Jones has but little more to desire in tiii^ world : but little more to ac- 
quire ; Col. Davidson desires much, and would acquire mure — much more than 
he pt)ssesses. The first is frugal and economical, while the latter is lavish, 
careless, and expensive. The man who abounds in authorities, vv'ho studies 
with care his cases, who manages with strictness every formula, every point 
that may redound to his advantage, contrasts strongly Indeed with an advocate 
who, regardless of authority drawn from books, takes human nature as his 
guide, extracts large from the open volume, which he has carefully perused, 
neglects quirks and forms, and seizes only upon strong points, which he uses 
witli cifect, despite of the authorities arrayed against him. A score of years 
and much reading may have given the one a wider experience of the past, a 
more profound knowledge of things, but the other, a keen searcher into the 
motives of men, their passions, their prejudices, their desires, has by mingling 
among them, by observation, made already a proficiency which strikes out thi^ 
difference of age, and places the two nearly on an equality. 



COLLINS AND DURANT. 

No bar in the United States, presents advocates better worthy attention than, 
■ours ; whether we consider those who are new men, and have rapidly arisen to 
honor and distinction among us, or those who have long engrossed the business 
of the courts. There is no profession, where, to climb the heights of honor, a 
man is obliged to master such fields of knowledge. Without referring to an 
intimate acquaintaince with law, both civil and common, what lawyer of emi- 
nence anions us. who is not versed in one or more languages besides his own ? 



SKETCHES. 23 

How, oUicrvvi«(.>, would ho be enabled to acquire a lliorouMh kiiowk'doc of the 
laws of our State, or even to practice with success in our cijurts ? Whoever 
ventures u])on an extended practice, without such inibrniation, in New Orleans, 
will frequently suffer in contest with those who have not, in other respects, a 
tithe of his talents or abilities. I have already had occasion to remark, that the 
pursuit of elegant literature, was common with many of our leading advocates. 
Noble, indeed, the ambition, which is not satisfied with a mere knowledge of 
forms — the dry details of couits — the abstract principles of law — but which 
seeks for excellence in those arts which tend to form the persuasive, instructive 
and eloquent advocate. 

Thomas S. Cijllins, though but a little above tliirty years of age, has ac- 
quired for himself, jnuch distinction for ability as a lawyer. Not remarkable for 
eloquence, he is still the warm and earnest advocate. Without peculiar ele- 
gance, as a speaker, he yet excels in the use of the most appropriate language, 
and in that truthful manner calculated to win conviction, and to impress favora- 
bly, both judge and jury. As District Attorney, and afterwards as Judge of the 
.Superior City Court, he won for himself the confidence of the community, a;nd 
the respect of the bar. The honest man, the excellent citizen, the sincere 
friend, and the safe advocate, all are found combined, in this truly excellent 
young man. 

Industrious, studious, and attentive, Collins prepares thoroughly his cases, 
and is never found wanting in any of the knowledge or authorities necessary 
for explaining to the best advantage the cause he advocates. Few members of 
our bar are better able to furnish advice to younger attorneys upon the practical 
duties of their profession, and few are more solicitous in meeting kindlv such 
inqui)-ies. Collins is- 11 little above the middle height, ;md has handsome and 
pi'epossessing features. Dark hair, eyes, and complexion, indicate a Creole 
origin, and his accurate and elegant mode of expressing himself in tlie French 
and English idioms also declare his birth-place, the soil of Louisiana. 

Elegant manners and address mark in him t!ie man of the world and the well- 
bred gentleman. I should not omit to mention that.this advocate is very agree- 
able as a social companion, lively, fanciful and witty ; though t!ie observer may 
note in his countenance the lines of thought and an expression of gravity and 
sadness that chase with rapidity from his features the eiFects of the liveliest 
sally. Collins is a man Avho possesses numerous friends, and stiil further the 
faculty of preserving them. Of pure life and manners, he stands forth ;i 
worthy model for respect and imitation. 

Thomas J. Durant, Esq., remarkably distinguished as the architect of jiis 
own fortunes, has risen with unprecedented rapidity to one of the most("li'\ufo<f 
positions in our city, 



24 SKETCHES. 

DiJiiANT iri a young man, little more than thirty years of age. He is spare' 
in his fio-ure, and one who, from his features, would not particularly strike the 
observer as a superior man. He is a fair speaker, though not particularly 
eloquent. He is an excellent lawyer, and versed in several of the modern lan- 
guages. Not remarkably brilliant, he is, as a speaker, cogent, pursuasive, and 
loo-ical. Exceedingly industrious in his habits, a severe student, temperate, 
never neglecting business for pleasure — .these are the true causes of his suc- 
cess and must ever lead those who practice them in New Orleans to success, 
if not to distinction. Long acquainted with this gentleman, I have learned to 
admire his superior qualities as a man, as a friend, and as a citizen. Perhaps 
it may be sufficient eulogium to say, that in the elevated stfttion of District 
Attorney of the United States Court, he has fully sustained the public expecta- 
tion, and has proved himself a worthy successor of the previous talented 
incumbent. 

Without the striking social qualities of Judge Collins, he yet possesses 
many that make him an agi-eeable companion, and without his elegance of 
manner, I cannot deny him sincerity, and an agreeable frankness. Though, at 
times, the stranger might esteem him cold and distant, yet I am persuaded that 
such is not the real disposition of the man. Temperate, to a fault ; a student 
and a close one ; a man devoted to the realities of life ; grave in his countenance 
and in his converse with his fellows, Durant, steadily, untiringly pursues the 
paths of honor and distinction, and appears cold, because he despises and neg^* 
lects what vainer men desire,- the applause of those who surround him. I know 
him well enough, however, in his domestic relations, to feel assured, that he is 
sensible to the warm emotions of love and friendship, and that he is something 
more than a mere cold-hearted man of the world. 

I have presented in my sketch of to-day, two gentlemen who take a promi- 
nent place among the members of our bar ; men who aspire to be among our lead- 
ing advocates, and in this connection, (without alluding to the worthy young 
men I have attempted to sketch), I would remark that it is melancholy to ob- 
serve how many among us possessed of brilliant abilities and attainments, 
struo-p-le on in the noble profession of the law in poverty and obscurity, while 
others not possessed of a tithe of their intelligence or information, figure ever 
on the court dockets, and enjoy to the full, the honors and emoluments of tiie 
profession. 

Merit, unobtrusive in her nature, shuns the glare of day, and prefers neglect 
to notoriety. Impudence, strutting along in conscious self-importance, catches 
the popular attentionj and too often impresses upon us the shadow for the sub- 
Ktance. Thus it follows, that brilliant abilities are thrown in the shade, anr) 
Inany a youth "f pr"!uit<r>j who niiglit hiue won even the proudest laurels of 



SKETCHES. 25 

the civilian, under a little patronage, is often compelled to resort to other pur- 
■suits to obtain, perhaps a bare subsistence. It is nevertheless true, that many 
among us, little gifted by nature, have risen to distinction merely by means of 
untiring industry and perseverance, while many again, however fostered by 
patronage, and possessed,' too, of promising talents, yielding to dissipation, tothe 
vices and temptations of our city, have lost caste, character and health, and 
iiave fallen almost beneath contempt. One virtue is not sufficiently practiced 
by our older advocates. Talent, in younger members of the bar, is not encour- 
aged by them as it should be. Seldom do age and experience take the young 
aspirant by the hand, and lead him forward in the paths of honor and distinc- 
tion. If ever done, it may be attributed to favoritism, i-ather than to a desire to 
enceurage merit. 



PIERCE AND M^CALEB. 

In abilities as a counsellor, in attainments as a lawyer, this gentleman ranks 
'among the first at the Orleans bar. Though without the oratorical talents of 
Soule, the noble simplicity of manner of Preston, the profound legal acquire- 
ments of Roselius, the weight and dignity of Grymes, the subtle acumen of 
Janin, or the nen'ous logic of JMazureau, Pierce merits worthy rank among 
■them as the comprehensive reasoner, the ready lawyer, and the learned civil- 
ian. No one, whether advocate or lawyer, has received a larger share of 
^patronage ; nor can any one doubt for a moment, his ability as a counsellor, or 
his skill in questions where deep research and subtilty of intellect are requisite. 
■Few in New Orleans can claim a larger amount of professional confidence, 
•and few are more worthy of it. 

Without great elegance as a speaker, he is concise and close in argument. 
Never wandering from his subject, he invariably discusses it with vigor and 
ability. His profound knowledge of the law, and his inductive faculties, admi- 
rably adapt him for judicial station. Few lawyers have a larger experience of 
4 



26 SKETCHES. 

banking institntione, if we may judge from the fact of his having appeared bo 
often in court in cases connected with these peculiar interests. Already 
elevated to the high office of Secretary of State in Louisiana, Pierce may still 
be considered an aspiring man, and one ambitious of noble and honorable 
distinction. 

Mr. Pierce is verging towards or quite fifty years of age. Features manly 
and prepossessing, set off a figure above the middle height. His maimer in his 
intercourse with others, is off-hand and careless, and mark peculiarly the frank 
man of the world. His reading has been varied and extensive, and in his 
tastes he is the polished and elegant scholar. 

Appointed a United States District Judge, under the administration of Presi- 
dent Tyler, it is not difficult to form an estimate now, of Judge McCaleb, in 
that capacity, nor to pronounce with accuracy upon his legal attainments. 
When we consider the wide extent of his jurisdiction, and the importance of 
the causes frequently brought before his tribunal, it might be esteemed super- 
lative praise, to say that he was in every respect equal to his station. 

Without claiming for him great judicial abilities, we may yet award him 
good talents as a Judge. Possessed of a clear intellect, unblemished integrity, 
and dignified manners, he must ever win to himself the respect and esteem of 
the bar. If he be not the profound lawyer, the deep and subtle reasoner, he 
yet brings to the bench an industry and a research, which make him the safe 
Judge, and a love of justice that renders him worthy of entire confidence. We 
will not say that in the courts of the United States, there are not many men 
more profound, as jurists — many more deeply versed in international, maritime 
and revenue law ; but we doubt if there are any that surpass him in purity of 
motive, or in the justness of their views. 

McCaleb is a Mississippian by birth, and received his education, at Yale 
College. A polished and beautiful writer, his style is florid, it is true, but 
replete with elegance. Tall in stature, the lineaments of his countenance are 
eminently handsome, and express mildness, benevolence, and amiability. Dig- 
nified without coldness, friendly without permitting undue familiarity, manliness, 
elegance, bonhommie, are striking characteristics. In associating with him, 
we discover that his heart is warm, and that he is easily susceptible to the 
gentler sympathies of our nature ; a gentleman, in every sense, and without 
profession, a christian, in word and deed. 

McCaleb's is a character that one loves to dwell upon, for it is far from 
being of every day occurrence. In any station, such a man would possess 
friends ; judicial ermine never clothed a man more just, or more worthy of 
respect and confidence. It gives me pleasure to note, in passing, that this 
accomplished scholar and elegant jurist has been receiotly appointed to tJic- 



chair of Admiralty and International Law, in the law department of tlie 
Louisiana University. 

Pierce — McCaleb. — We are a little surprised that we have placed two 
such unlike characters in juxtaposition. We know not how to compare them, 
how to trace resemblance between them. The one, as a lawyer, is immeasura- 
bly superior to the other. The sturdy legal counsellor doubtless prefers black- 
letter lore to the belles-lettres, while we should suppose the Judge's taste 
would incline him to the study of literature. There are those that regard with 
indifference the traits of the finest picture, the noblest piece of statuary, or 
the most beautiful work of imagination that ever blessed the eye, or charmed 
the fancy of an artist. We do not believe this of either of the characters of 
which we speak, for both of them, we doubt not, are keenly alive to the 
pleasures of taste. We are of those who love to discover in the civilian a 
cultivated and refined taste ; nor do we believe that Story, Duponceau, and 
Legare, were the less great lawyers, in their devotion to literature and elegant 
arts. The study of such arts softens the character, and renders it the more 
susceptible to the warm emotions of love and friendship. Great abilities, 
unaccompanied by such possessions, must ever remain wrapped in coldness and 
unapproachable frigidity. 



BENJAMIN AND HUNT. 

Benjamin is emphatically the Commercial Lawyer of our city, and one of the 
most successful advocates at our bar. He hails, I think, from South Carolina, 
and holds a deservedly high place among the members of his profession. He 
is remarkable for the vivacity of his features, his sparkling and intelligent eyes, 
the perfect neatness and elegance of his costume, and the finished courtesy of 
his manners. He is rather below the middle height, though well propor- 
tioned. From his appearance, he would scarcely be taken for a student, though 
perhapp, as industrious a man as there is in the city, and to be found at liis office 



28 SKETCHES. 

early and late, never neglecting business for social enjoyments, or the calls of 
pleasure. Mr. Benjamin is a man fitted to adorn any circle, however distin- 
guished for elegance or refinement, and yet, at the same time, we find him the 
severe and untiring devotee to his profession. 

As a speaker, he is calm, collected, forcible, though sometimes a little too 
rapid in his elocution. His voice has a silvery, mellifluous sweetness, and 
seldom jars upon the ear, by degenerating into shrill or harsh tones. His style 
is distinguished for its conciseness, and close adherence to the matter in hand- 
He never goes in search of flowers or metaphors, and yet, when occasion 
ofters, uses them with skill and appositeness. His manner and gesture are 
graceful and finished ; his language the purest and most appropriate English. 
To his many scholarly acquirements he adds the French language, which he' 
speaks with fluency and elegance. In his converse with the world he is social 
and agreeable, and, I believe, generally admired and liked by those who know 
him intimately. 

Mr. Benjamin is by birth, and as his names imports, an Israelite. Yet how 
far he still adheres to the religion of his fathers, I cannot tell, though I should 
doubt whether the matter troubled him much. In his politics, he is a whig, 
and one of the lights of the party in this city. He is, too, if I mistake not, 
something of a writer, and has contributed his quota to the literature of the 
South. I have not had an opportunity to peruse any of his productions ; yet 
feel satisfied that they would do him honor, pattern as he is of elegance and 
industry. It has been remarked by a very close observer, that the best idea of 
a man's character is derived from the perusal and study of his literary produc- 
tions. We must, however, take other data here, for it is very evident that Mr.. 
Benjamin seeks rather the distinction of being a thorough and accomplished 
lawyer, than that of a literary man or politician. In busmess he is ever ready,, 
never for a moment at a loss. This readiness, this activity of mind, are the 
fruits of labor and of study ; he has not been a close student for nothing. 

Mr. Benjamin cannot be more, certainly, than thirty-six, and yet deserves a 
niche among the veterans of our bar. I dwell long upon this picture, as I 
thinlc it may be studied with advantage by young practitioners who seek 
distinction in this noble profession, the only approaches to which are through 
paths of toil and vigil. 

Randal Hunt next engages the attention ; a man of decided talent, and an 
able speaker, though widely differing from him we have been sketching. He is 
apparently some forty years of age. His countenance is frank and open. 
Without being handsome, it is yet prepossessing. He is an accomplished man 
of the world, and very much of a gentleman. His courtesy of manner is, 
however, overcast by an air of us;^iimpfion — of aristocracy, f;ir from pleapino'. 



SKETCHES'. 29 

There is a little too much consciousness of superiority in him to be altogether 
tolerated by us who live in a land so democratic. Hence, should Mr. Hunt at 
any time prove unpopular, he may attribute it to this cause. Simplicity of 
manner and of character, can never be separated from true greatness. The 
proud success of Mr, Hunt as a lawyer, an advocate, and a legislator, may 
account for this self-exaggeration. 

We are ourselves, from our knowledge of the man, disposed to consider the 
above peculiarity rather as a fault of manner than of character. That it is a 
peculiar trait, no one can doubt. In conversation, Mr. Hunt speaks slowly, 
and with a measured stress on every word, as though ever in search of the 
choicest terms of the king's English, It is the same when speaking in pubUc, 
until he becomes fully engaged, and then his language flows with ease, and we 
cease to observe any effort in the search after choice terms, or rhetorical 
figures. Randal HurtT, we have said, is an able speaker ; he is at times 
really eloquent, and wins deserved applause. He does not, at the same time, 
always discriminate with sufficient care, being sometimes as eloquent in 
matters of small moment as when great objects are at stake. We have heard 
a good, nay, more, a great speech, from Mr. Hunt, while in the State Legisla- 
ture, but were less pleased with him when addressing a whig meeting. In the 
one, his views were noble, commanding, patriotic — wliile in the other, they 
were involved, ambiguous, unstatesmanlike. In the one, he was great ; while 
in the other, he was the mere party man — aimless, objectless. In the one, the 
man of ideas — cogent, forcible ; in the other, the man of mere words — a violent 
current, "full of sound and fury, signifying nothing." As a jury lawyer, Randal 
Hunt is among the first at this or any other bar. He is strong, powerful, and 
should always remember that this is his proper sphere ; the one where he was 
intended by nature to shine, and where he is in truth, the brilliant man and the 
orator. 

Composure, coolness and perfect self-possession characterize tlie manner of 
Benjamin, while Hunt, in his fondness for display, is more excited, more passion- 
ate, more energetic. With Benjamin, every word has a meaning, every 
expression is german to the matter. With Hunt, there is more art, more 
apparent efTort, more words. Notwithstanding these differences, the style of 
both is equally smooth, Benjamin, regardless of flowers, though plain, is yet 
elegant ; while Hunt never fails to inlay with pearls, to embroider with flowers, 
whatever work he has in hand, and to complete his periods with the choicest, 
most appropriate, and most euphonious terms. The peculiar department of law 
to which the^younger counsellor has directed his attention, has probably con- 
duced to the severity of his style, and the plain businesslike features by which 
it is characterized ; wiiile Hunt, srireading his researches over n wider field, 



30 SKETCHES. 

imbued with a knowledge of the law in its various departments, whether cruni- 
nal, civil, or the law merchant — is more full, more various, more interesting. 

Mr. Benjamin, in his peculiar walk, is the best lawyer of the tvv^o, and the 
most attached to his profession from the love of it. Mr. Hunt aims, we should 
tliink, greatly more at political distinction, though we should not be in the least 
surprised, if the younger counsellor got the start of him. 

Industry and energy of character alike mark both of these advocates. Both 
Carolinians, and bearing from that chivalrous State her high and noble pride of 
honor and distinction, they have made for themselves names in Louisiana, and 
are destined, if we mistake not, to attain higher places than they have yet 
achieved in their adopted State. 



PENN AND DOWNS. 

In leaving for a brief period those of our city, who deserve honorable 
mention in my sketches, I have selected two prominent men, who hold a high 
place in the hearts of Louisianians, for their worth, talents, and superior abilities. 
Intimately acquainted with the first, I have learned to admire him for his intel- 
lectual endowments, to love him for his high social and moral qualities. My 
acquaintance with the second is more limited; yet, perhaps, sufficient to enable 
me to describe him with some accuracy. 

Martin G. Penn is well known as the present Judge of the Eightli District 
of this State — Mr. Downs as the United States Senator who will represent us 
in the next Congress. Judge Penn is some forty-two years of age; is possessed 
of a commanding mein; a strikingly intellectual countenance; features remark- 
ably handsome, once eminently so; piercing black eyes, full of expression and 
of intellect; a figure tall, well made, and muscular. 

" A combination, and a form indeed, 
Where every god liath seemed to set liis seal. 
To give the world ^fsuranee of a man." 



SKETCHES. 31 

He is a native of Virginia, and of a family, too, of distinction ; his father having 
served in various political stations of honor and of trust, in the Old Dominion. 
He removed to Kentucky when the subject of this sketch was very young, and 
finally to this State. In the vicissitudes of fortune, so common with old 
families in our country, the old Virginian lost his all ; and young Penn was 
early thrown upon his own resources. Though the heir to no fortune, yet the 
father bequeathed him what was of more value than money. He inherited a 
fierce spirit of independence ; a determined will ; integrity of purpose ; a 
force of character that could trample on every obstacle, with which grim 
adversity can obstruct the path of the aspiring and ambitious. The early mis- 
fortunes of his family had prevented him from enjoying the advantages of 
education, which is usually the pride of families who hail from the State of 
Thomas Jefferson. 

Yet what was this to the young man who was determined to succeed— to 
revive in his person his family name and honors ? While but a carrier of the 
mail through our piney-woods settlement, the young man carried with him his 
Blackstone, his elementary law books, over which he studied often by torch- 
light, after a fatiguing ride in his arduous employment, and thus stored his 
mind with valuable principles for future use. 

It was on one of these occasions, that stopping in Feliciana, he met with our 
present Governor, then a young lawyer, who, surprised at the answers the mail 
carrier gave to some of his questions, was led to inquire into his history, treated 
him with encouragement and politeness, and invited him to his house. This 
was the commencement of an intimacy that has never since ceased between 
these distinguished men. Studying law thus, when he could steal a moment 
from other pursuits, he finally presented himself to Judge Martin, who having 
examined the young aspirant, gave him the requisite certificate of admission to 
practice law in our courts. He established himself in Covington ; and soon 
found for his active mind, abundant employment. His majoi'ity is scarce 
concluded, when he is elected to the Legislature ; where, his youth being 
considered, he accquitted himself with much distinction. From that moment 
to the present, his career has been continually one of credit and of honor. 

The nephew of Martin Gordon of this city — a name long known in the 
annals of true, honorable, unshrinking democracy — Martin Gordon Penn has 
ever been in the foremost rank in the same good cause, and has never, for a 
moment, forsaken the rights or the interests of the masses. His life thus far, 
has been one continuous example of the triumphs of talent — the true and most 
honorable wealth of the young American. 

The poor boy, who once cut and corded wood for his livelihood, in St. Tam- 
many Parish ; who played for years tlic part of a mail carrier — has again and 



33 SKETCHES. 

awain, since, been a representative in both houses of the Legislature ; lias filled 
the department of State Engineer, and now occupies a highly honorable and 
responsible station, with credit and distinction. Without soliciting, nor yet 
declining the trust, he was called by the voices of his fellow-citizens of the 
Seventeenth Senatorial District, to represent them in the State Convention, 
convened for the revisal of the Constitution ; and it is worthy of note, that 
most of the objects of reform stated in his address to his constituents on that 
occasion, became eventually the policy of the State. Among the rest, freedom 
of suffrage, the abolition of property qualifications for the holding of office, 
election of all State officers, from the highest to the lowest, the duel clause, 
and others of less importance.* 

As a speaker, he is strong, eloquent, and persuasive ; as a lawyer, ready, 
accurate, and learned ; as a writer, not without claims to respect, as his late 
published charge to the grand juries of the Eighth District evinces, which is 
both an able and an eloquent document. As a social companion, I have seldom, 
if ever, met his superior. As a friend, he is one to be entirely trusted, adhering 
to those worthy of confidence with string-s of steel. Strong in his prejudices, 
firm in what is right, he is not easil}^ moved from his resolves. Whatever his 



* The following passages are extracted from Mr. Penn's printed address to the 
voters of the Seventeenth Senatorial District, previous to his election : 

" Gladly would I yield the task of representing you, to abler and more com- 
petent hands ; but having been solicited in a manner that leaves me no alterna- 
tive, I shall briefly unfold to you my views and opinions in regard to the powers 
of the Convention, and the cardinal principles which shall govern me in the 
event of my election ; and leave the issue in your hands, with the most unqual- 
ified assurance that I have neither solicited, nor will I decline the responsibility 
of becoming your agent, in the transaction of the solemn and important duties 
before us." 

" I hold all attempts to regulate the qualifications of a voter, by the amount 
of his property, of the taxes he pays, to be a libel upon the patriotism of an 
American citizen ; and hence, shall sirenuously advocate the extension of the 
riglit of suffi-age to all free ivhite maJe citizens of the United States, of twenty- 
one years of age, with twelve months residence in the Parish or District in 
which he ofl"ers to vote." 

" I shall advocate the abolition of all property qualifications for office, 
believing as I do, that the only qualification which should be required, in addi- 
tion to that of being a voter, consists in being capable, honest and faithful to 
the Constitution." 

" I am in favor of the election of all public agents, from the highest to the 
lowesi., directly by the people, and that too for a limited period." 

" I am in favor of inserting a clause in the Constitution, requiring all public 
officers to subscribe an oath, before entering upon the duties of his office, 'that 
he has not been engaged, either as princijjal or second, in any duel, since the 
adoption of the Constitution ; nor neither will he be, during his continuance in 
office." 



SKETCHES. -:5 

station, (and i know of none in this State, however hiyh, to wiiicii he woulti not 
bring lionor,) he would be true to his friends, his principles, and the people. 
Sr.cli is Martin G. Penn, as I have known him, and such is the voice of all 
who know him intimately. 

I should not forget, that from constitutional necessity, as well as from princi- 
ple, he is a true disciple of temperance, and has made many disciples of those 
around him, both by precept and example. He is a true believer of the blessed 
faith of our Saviour, and if I mistake not, an avowed follower of the iaith of 
the devout Wesley. His house is the abode of hospitality — ever open to liis 
friends, ever open to the stranger. In the bosom of a charming family, ho i;^ 
one of the most indulgent and beloved of parents, the most affectionate of 
husbands. 

GBneral Dowjjs is a native of Tennessee, and was in part educated at Tran- 
sylvania University. He is built in a heavier mould than the gentleman above 
alluded to — has, however, a prepossessing countenance, a manly presence, 
stongly marked and intelligent features, and is about the same age as Judge 
Penn. He has passed the chief portion of his life in Feliciana and in the 
Parish of Ouachita, where he early acquired distinction as a practitioner at the 
bar. Devoted much to politics, he has repeatedly served in the Senate of 
Louisiana — was the predecessor of the present talented incumbent in the office 
of District Attorney of the United States District Court — a distinguished 
member of the late State Convention — and now a Senator of the United States. 
In politics he is a strong partisan, radical in his views — a firm pillar of 
democracy. 

As a speaker, though I cannot claim for him elegance of manner or of 
gesture, he is yet strong, persuasive and convincing. He addresses himself 
not so much to the eye as to the understanding. Tliough I have heard him 
when, notwithstanding a certain ungainliness of manner, he was, in truth, 
eloquent. As a lawyer, he is profound and well read. As a writer, he is not 
without distinction. I am describing no common, every-day man ; but one of 
strong, original pov/ers of mind, and unusual force of character ; a man fitted 
to breast the storms of life, and not made for the calm smooth current. 

As a speaker, Downs would suffer greatly in comparison with Penn. He 

has neither the clear utterance, the musical voice, nor the elegant gesture 

characteristic of the latter. Nor does he possess features equally expressive 

and winning. Penn, too, is more enthusiastic in his character than Downs •, 

more poetic in his thoughts ; his language abounding far more in imagery. 

They are both close reasoners, though I am inclined again to award the palm 

to Penn ; far less full, nor in his argument covering so wide a space as the 

Senator, but more clear, more pointedi more convinciii'i. Pknn's talcn! lies 
5 



3-1 SKETCHES. 

greatly in analysis, in separating the parts of a subject, and giving to eacli its 
true bearing and character ; v^aile Downs is more synthetic ; he brings 
together, from the most diverse quarters, apposite arguments, forcible illustra- 
tions, but is not equally happy in moulding thorn into form and beautiful propor- 
tions ; though, perliaps, he may be possessed of a mind more full than that of 
the Judge. 

Give to each of these gentlemen the materials, and Penn would raise the 
fairest and most tasteful structure, each part duly proportioned, and violating no 
rule of art ; Downs would raise one more massive, more unwieldy, and less 
beautiful. The classical education of Downs gives him an advantage ovei" 
Penn, rendering him more accurate, and more correct as a writer, though his 
nature does not admit of his seasoiiing his style with as much life and vivacity. 
It is doubtful which of these gentlemen is the warmer politican. It is certain 
that both are far-sighted, keen observers of tlie times. 

No political fact in the history of our country, having important bearing upon 
public aiFairs, but has been observed and noted by both, and as advisers in such 
matters, I know none in the State on' whom one may lean with more perfect 
ronuder.ce. Both are ardent friends ; both strong in their prejudices ; both bold 
in tho avowal of their sentiments. Both adopted sons of Louisiana, she may 
well be proud of them as citizens. Both have seen adversity in its roughest 
aspect, and h' Sdent and unraovetl. 



WATTS AND COHEN. 

I travel often over tlie same field, and difficult, indeed, I find it, to preserve 
that perfect individuality, which is desirable in my portraits. Sketches sucli 
as mine can possess few of the attractive features, which pertain to the 
jiortraiture of men, who have illustrated their lives in the pursuit of arts and 
arms : llio warrior who lias gained renown on the field of battle — who has 
*'.\|ii)-'-<niis lii'o in tlie defence of his country; the painter, the pcct, or the 



SKETCHES. 35 

•BCiilptor, who have stamped tlieir character and their ekill upon immortal works 
of art, awaken in the niiiid, as we mark their deeds, or study their productions, 
emotions of thrilling interest. Every thing connected with such men, either 
in private or public life, their manners — their features — their peculiar propen- 
sities, are all, to us, subjects for attention and regard. 

The man, however, who moves in quiet life, who is seldom heard of, save by 
the frcquent'^rs of the Halls of Justice — whose studies confine them to dusty 
tomes — such a man attracts little interest, and little praise or thanks may 
.be, perhaps, awarded him, who seeks out such men and introduces them to public 
gaze. Some there are, however, who, if their names be not bruited abroad, if 
little known, save to their immediate friends, are not unfrequently as worthy to 
be portrayed, as those who have a more widely extended reputation. These 
remarks, though not precisely in point, may, however, serve not unaptly to 
introduce to my readers the gentlemen whose names head the present article. 

Judge Watts has acquired a creditable reputation for legal attainments, 
though he is far from brilliant, either as lawyer, judge, or advocate. He is 
above fifty years of age, his features strongly marked with the signs of thought 
and expressive, also, of benevolence and amiability. These last are charac- 
teristic traits, I believe, of the man. After a long and useful career upon the 
bench as one of the State Circuit Judges, and in the New Orleans Commercial 
dourt, he has again become a practitioner at the bar, and prove shimself a good 
lawyer — one of far more than mediocre abilities. 

He has resided many years in Louisiana, is, however, a Carolinian by birth. 
He is very much of a scholar — much of a proficient in literature, and like 
many men of liberal education, fond of the classics and ancient history. The 
Judge has been said, also, with how much truth I know not, to have been both 
an admirer and an imitator of Thucydides, greatest of the historians of Greece. 
I mention this to his lioDor, and should I not do so, I should feel as though I had 
studied the great historian to little purpose. Would that many of the great 
lecturers of our city would imitate a model of style so replete with splendor, 
strength, and dignity. I would not, however, be understood as praising the servile 
imitator or any writer whatever, yet would ever prefer even plagiarism to dull 
performances that excel in paucity of ideas, and in lack of taste and comraon 
sense. 

M. M. Cohen is a native also of South Carolina. Handsome and expressive 
features, a frame well proportioned and muscular set off his common height. 
.Some eleven years a citizen of Now Orleans, he has acquired a fair reputation 
as a lawyer, and deserves high commendation and respect, when it is considered, 
tliat on arriving in New Orleans he had not one dollar in his pocket, and that 
now, by continual and untiring assiduity and atteaition to his profession, he has 



ga SKETClIEiS. 

not only acquired means, but character at a bar, where there is such immenee 
competition. 

In looking over the elementary law books in his library, 1 have been surprised 
in observing the labor employed by this gentleman in collecting authorities, and 
the care v/ith which he has searched out whatever may illustrate the text of 
the Codes, and meet every emergency in ])ractice. Such industry I have seldom 
before noted in any advocate. He has an extensive and well-selected library, 
the accumulation of a few years, and in itself wortli a little fortune. 

Mr. Cohen, in early life and when I first knew him, devoted his leisure to the 
pursuit of elegant literature, had acquired some re])utation for poetic talents, 
and as a contributor to the lighter kind of periodicals. Shortly after his 
admission to the Charleston bar, he turned his attention to politics, and was sent 
to the legislature. His political career injured to some extent, however, hks 
professional prospects, as its duties called him from the city and the courts, 
and since his removal to this city, I have never heard of his throwing himself 
forward into the arena of politics. 

While Mr. Cohen was in the South Carolina Legislature, he volunteered in 
the Florida war, and has described his cam])aign, in a graphic productioi^ 
called " Florida and the Campaigns, by an officer of the Left Wing." Li addi- 
tion to his claims to respect, as a writer, he has made proficiency in several of 
the modern languages, and among others speaks the French with ^•ery con- 
siderable ease and elegance. I find, with pleasure, his name among the Admin- 
istrators of the University of Louisiana. 

Mr. Cohen has confined himself chiefly to commercial law, to which, incli- 
nation, as well as his peculiar talents, seem to attract him. His practice is 
continually on the increase, and promises, eventually, to become a large one. 
He holds a respectable position as an advocate, but his exceeding fondness for 
routine and exactitude, checks in him the enihusia.<^m so essential to the man, 
who would move by eloquence, or carry conviction by force of language. Too 
frigid to excite jmssion, too fond of elegant expression and rhetorical accuracy, 
to move on in a rapid and overwhelming current, the listener cannot fail to 
admire the brilliant and prepared metaphor — the choice and meaning expression, 
while he fails to feel his heart leaping in response to the words of the speaker. 

The last ten years have wrought a great change in this gentleman. He is 
decidedly more practical than formerly. Mingling in the active, business, 
and bustling world of New Orleans, and performing ^lo mean part in its varied 
and ever-changing drama, he has been taught many lessons that have changed 
a fanciful and fastidious elegant, into a useful and practical citizen, and an 
accomj)li.-hed lawyer. He is favorably known as a literary man, and is more 
than a lucrc pretty writer. Wliatevor he |)repnres lor the public eye or ear. 



SKETrilHS. 37 

i« elaborate with industry; and highly creditable. Tlioiigli not do?|)it<ii!gMo bo 
esteemed for these things, this gentleman prefers the reputation of the good 
and accurate lawyer, and to his jn-ofession gives the chief share of his 
attention. 

These gentlemen contrast considerably in years, the Judge having, at least, 
fifteen years the advantage. Both commercial lawyers, the first has few if any 
rivals at this bar, ami the other is not without claims to distinction in this 
branch of the law. Both literary men, and both of handsome acquirements, 
neither have suffered their fondness for belles-lettres, to withdraw them from tlieir 
devotion to the noblest of proi'essions. The one has nearly finished his career 
— the other may hope for much higher distinctions than he has yet attained. 



PllKAUX AND JANIN. 

I HAVE sketched but few from among the Creole population of our city. Thiri 
has not arisen from intention, but from a sense of my inability to do justice to 
a phase of character, with which I was little acquainted. Recent associations 
have created in my mind im])ressions which have tended greatly to remove preju- 
dices previously implanted l)y the censorious and designing. Descended from 
the first founders of Louisiana — from families who adorn our early annals, the 
Creoles in features, in manners, and in language, remain a distinct class. They 
have held long in their hands the destinies of our State, and would have done 
so still longer, had not our late (Constitution struck a death blow at property 
qualifications in office-holders, and thereby elevated the citizen stranger, whose 
talents rendered him worthy of public confidence. 

It is worthy of remark, that though greatly difi'ering in character and 
manners, the Anglo-Saxon and Creole races arc now raj)idly coalescing — • 
national prejudices rapidly declining — and, perhaps, the time is not remote, 
when the distinction of language, so powerful a barrier to intercourse, will no 
longer exii^t. Afu'"]) n>- il iu;iy be n^grettcd. vet tbi^ signs of the tiiiierJ plainly 



38 SKETCHES. 

•declare, that a few more years passed away, and we shall lose from among us 
the silver-tones of Andalusia, and the musical and beautiful voices of Provence. 
The Iberian and the Frank are the founders of the Creole family ; nor have 
the chivalrous spirit, the pride and reserve of the first, nor the vivacity, tiie 
elegance and the gallantry of the second, become extinct in their descendants. 
The raven hair, dark piercing eye, the bronze complexion, the slight and agile 
form, the quick, excitable disposition so peculiar to the children of a tropical 
clime, still remarkaljly distinguish the Creole of Spanish origin : while the soft 
blue eye, the fair liair, the blonde complexion, the form of Iieavier mould, the 
voluptuous countenance and indolent gait, declare the more inunediate descend- 
tint of the Frank. Intermarriage has, however, so often taken place among 
the different branches of the Creole races, that often in the same family we 
may note the distinctive characteristics of both. A third class still exists — 
descendants of the Anglo-Saxon and Creole — whose distinctive features it 
would be difficult, indeed, to describe, forming, as they do, the transition link 
which connects, in Louisiana, those termed Americans, witli those who may be 
■considered of the ancien regime. 

It is said that the Creole has little of the enterprise — little of the activity 
and force of character peculiar to the more hardy, and more heavily moulded 
«ons of the Nortli ; tliat he is a devotee of pleasure, despising toil as plebian 
^and imworthy of the gentleman ; that he seeks office, not so much from duty to 
the country, as from vanity, and a belief that office in Louisiana is his right — 
his hereditary legacy. He is said to prefer the frivolous to the noble ; to delight 
rather in dress, in equipage, and in applause, than in solid and useful posses- 
vsions ; that, in short, it is, at present, a degenerate race, and destined eventually 
to rank second, only, among us. To disprove such assertions, it shall be my 
task to seek examples to the contrary, and, if possible, to show that Louisiana 
has much to boast in her Creole population. 

I introduce in the present sketch a Creole of the Island of Guadaloupe, and 
u Franco-German of the Rhine. In the first, I find the heau ideal of the Creole 
lawyer — ikiB man of quick and ardent temperament — the eloquent and impas- 
sioned decla^mer — the subtle logician^the courteous gentleman — the lively and 
sparkling humorist — the strange embodiment of whim and caprice — the 
imaginative, anecdote-abounding and choice convivialist — a woman for fancies, 
a man for feeling — a strange compound, in which mingle unnumbered ingredi- 
i.'nts both of good and ill — an instrument so quaintly devised tliat it must be 
touclied vi'itb a nia>^ter hand to avv^akcn the harmony ol" all its chords. In the 
second, I find a very diffijrent individual indeed ; a man of exceedingly bustling 
and restless ])ropensities, combining, if it be possible, the obstinacy of opinion, 
;ind tlie heaviness of juind of the German, with the accunstu and subletv of 



SKETCHES. S9 

tdo Frencliniali ; a man of decided talent — laborious, fctudioiis, deep-searching ; 
an energetic, voluble, but not eloquent advocate ; a man of large practice, and 
holding a position among the leaders of our bar; the true German student in 
research, in the variety of liis attainments, and in his indefatigable attention to 
business. 

Jams is about the medium height, thick set and vigorous, with features 
expressive of intelligence, though while in a state of repose, not remarkable 
for vivacity ; an Israelite, I believe, yet like the elegant and accomplished 
advocate, Benjamin, if still adhering to the faith of his fathers, no violent 
sectary. He must be near or quite fifty years of age ; though a temperate life 
preserves on his features the signs of a period less advanced. He belongs to a 
numerous class among us, who unite in themselves the characteristics of Creole, 
Frenchman and American. In bim, however, I think the Frenchman predomi- 
nates. No party man — he moves on ever within the bounds of his professioW, 
and has thus become wealthy. 

And certain it is, that the lawyer in Louisiana who will keep aloof from 
political strifes and party contests, must ever arrive at the same results. I will 
not say how far such a course comports with the duty of an American citizen; 
it is, however, doubtless a most politic one. Janin has acquired reputation' as 
a lawyer ; as a man of honor and probity ; and these acquisitions I hesitate not 
to say, are above political distinctions, however elevated, as the last are often 
among us conferred unworthily, and the former never can be, but must ever 
wait upon desert, professional ability, and moral honesty. 

Preaux is above the middle height, and possesses a countenance full of 
vivacity. His eyes are black and piercing, his hair dark, and complexion 
deeply bronzed. It is as speaking a face as I ever saw — the features wonder- 
fully restless and expressive. He is some forty years of age, and has been a, 
practitioner at the bar in Louisiana above fifteen years. I have spoken of him 
as an eloquent declaimer ; he is something more ; his manner is excellent, his 
gestures appropriate, and his language, in his own tongue, pure and elegant, 
and in English, not without claims to considerable grammatical accuracy. He 
cannot by any means be called a great lawyer, though he holds a very respecta- 
ble rank, and one which might be still more elevated, if laying aside a certain 
levity of disposition, he would be ever the dignified advocate. Chasten 
severely such a character as that possessed by Preau::, cultivate to the utmost 
such legal abilities, and you have a combination easily moulded into greatness. 

I have described, or attempted so to do, two individuals who stand- deservedly 
high at this bar. If I have failed to do them justice, the will has not been 
wanting. It is uncertain how far my sketches hitherto may tend to elevate the- 
character of the advocate in Louisiana ; thout;'li I do not hc;Mt:itc to avow thai 



4U 



SKETCItli.S. 



sucli is in part llie ubject ior wliicli I write ; I'or surely, tlie holding- up of a 
worthy advocate to the attention of our numerous bar, and descri!)ing his merit;; 
to the best of my ability, cannot be wholly without its beneficial effects. No 
character, in my opinion, is more elevated than that which goes unscathed 
through the temptations, the dangerous and besetting temptations to which the 
lawyer is continually exposed. 

The very fact that the client often fears to trust his property in the hands of 
an advocate, because numerous examples are on record, (not out of Louisiana 
either,) of the shameless and infamous manner in which immense sums have 
been retained by piratical and dishonored counsellors, has stamped an indelible 
stio-ma upon the profession, and rendered what should be the highest and noblest 
of all characters, a bye-word for all that is grasping, shameless and corrupt. 
Yet are there splendid exceptions, men of too much pride to stoop to sucli 
purposes, and who in the pursuit of their profession display ever the purest 
and most exalted virtues. "Law," says the eloquent Hooker, "has its 
seat in the bosom of God, and its voice is the harmony of the world." How 
noble, how elevated should be the character of the man who acts as its inter- 
preter ! What a position is his, who stands mediator between its mercy and its 
veno-eance ! With what grand and exalted power that man is invested, who 
stands forth the vindicator of the rights of a fellow-citizen ; the protector of 
innocence ; the guardian of the oppressed ! 

Give to a man of high moral tone of thought — of unblemished integrity and 
splendid talent, such a position, and you have before you a character of stirring 
interest and sublime power, to which no other profession can present an 
example, or find object of comparison.'^ 



* It is to the writer of these sketches, subject for regret, that leisure does not permit 
him to pursue farther at this time, the notices of oiu- bar. He finds himself compelled 
to iiass over many, no less the pride than ornament of the profession in Louisiana. At 
a ftUure day, lie trusts to return to the subjecl— to take also a retrospective glance at thoiip. 
wlio have passed away from among us — tjie old law^'crs of Louisiana. Tlie writer would 
remark also in passing, that he has omitted one name in tliis little volume, which appeared 
among the early imblished Sketches. This character was placed then by j7?r//, and it 
would depart too much from the present plau to have given it insertion. 



SUPREME COUHT JUDGES. 



EUSTIS, HOST, KING AND SLIDELL. 

EsTiBiATiJfG as I do, the character of the man appointed to wear the judicial 
robes of office — having, in my mind, a standard of the noble and excellent 
qualities requisite thereto — unblemished reputation — entire disregard of popular 
applause — firm and nnwavering purpose of doing what is right — freedom from 
prejudice — unbounded disinterestedness — a mind ever prepared to reconcile 
the contending claims of justice and mercy — a thorough and well digested 
knowledge of the laws and usages of society — a clear head — a pure heart, 
I know scarcely how to venture upon the path which lies before me, when 
I would touch, with a critical and faithful pencil, the traits of those who preside 
in this Court. We look in vain for a Matthews, a Porter, or a Martin, while 
we admit that we have good, conscientious, and talented men occupying the 
Supreme Bench. 

RosT is a native of France, and in early life, if I have heard his story cor- 
rectly, served in the Peninsular campaigns under Napoleon. He came when 
very young, to Louisiana, and settled at first in the parish of Natchitoches, 
whence he was sent to the Senate of this State. In 1839 he was appointed, 
with EusTis, Judge of the Supreme Court. They, however, remained tlien but 
a short time upon the bench. Rost has a countenance peculiarly marked with 
lines of thought and intelligence ; the utmost acuteness sits conspicuous upon 
his features — restlessness and uneasiness, an expression peculiarly searching, 
are also appparent in his lineaments, indicating clearly the character of a mind 
active, keen and intricate. Rost appears to be some fifty years of age, and 
possesses many of the characteristics of a good Judge — inductive faculties, 
highly cultivated habits of close research, industry, zeal and legal knowledge. 
He is eminently fitted by such qualities, for the station he occupies. 

Judge Slidell is a native of New York — has, however, been a citizen of 
New Orleans about twenty years. Long a practitioner at the bar, and at aVery 
propitious time, he was remarkable successful in his profession. The predc- 
(5 



42 SKETCHES. 

cesser of Col, Bailey Peyton, as United States District Attoniej', he served, 
also, one term in the Senate of Louisiana. Slidell is well known to the bar as 
the industrious collator, in connection with J. P. Benjamin, Esq., of the Digest 
of the late Supreme Court Decisions. Called at an early age to preside as one 
of tlie Judges in our most illustrious tribunal, it is easy to see that he has 
brought to the station much legal lore, a logical mind, and industry of untiring 
character. This gentleman has remarkably handsome features, and is prepos- 
sessing and winning in his manners and address ; one who wins respect, and at 
the same time deserves it. 

Chief Justice Eustis is a man of experience and a good lawyer. The 
second time appointed to a seat on the Supreme Bench, he must be something 
more than a common-place character. This gentleman is a native of New 
England, though he has been many years a citizen of New Orleans, where he 
has filled numerous offices of trust and honor. Judge Eustis is a man of 
extensive and elegant acquirements, a good linguist, and a ripe scholar. There 
are few among us possessed of the attainments in elegant literature, and in 
science which are peculiar to this gentleman. He can claim little distinction 
as a speaker ; being neither iluent nor eloquent. You may lind little fauh with 
the matter, though mucli with the manner. Eustis is not a man of quick 
perceptions; he grapples, however, strongly with what is abstruse, and, if slowly, 
yet finally renders the subject clear and distinct. Retakes time to arrive at 
conclusions, and proceeds thereto through intricate paths, for he is anything but 
the clear straight-forward reasoner. His decisions are, howevei', marked by 
very considerable clearness, precision and ability, and appear to have been 
carefully and studiously digested. 

Judge Eustis is about the middle height, is dignified in his address and 
manners, and v.hile upon the bench these are characterized by calmness and self- 
possession. Simj)licity of manner, courtesy towards the meanest, and a due 
and proper respect for the feelings and failings of others, must ever accompany 
true greatness of soul. Exalted station in a republic like ours, divested of 
these, may impose upon the weak and unthinking, but will ever effect the 
sensible and observing man, as the attributes of a mind but little conversant 
with true greatness. Superciliousness and assumption under, such circum- 
stances become peculiarily striking and ofiensive, and it is greatly to be hoped 
that such traits are attributed unjustly to the man I sketch. 

Judge King next claims attention — a man of very difierent order, both 
mental and physical, from Eustis. Above the middle height, his countenance 
expressive of mildness rather tlian firmness, he attracts the stranger, and at 
once elicits his confidence. The close observer sees little in his features to 
indicate the man of very fupevior r ndowmentr, though the fact of his having 



SKETCHES. 4S 

presided long, with applause and distinction, upon tJie District Court Benclx, 
speaks highly for his worth and talents. In private life, he is loved and re- 
sj)ected for his virtues, and is a perfect gentleman in his manners ; of noble 
sentiments and unblemished character, whether upon the bench or at the bar, 
he has ever won the esteem of his fellow-citizens. 

The gentlemen presiding upon the Supreme Bench are by no means inferior 
men. In character and acquirements they, however, afford among themselves 
great contrast. 

I am induced in this connection, to allude to the Hon. Henry A. Bullard, who 
has so long presided in the Supreme Court, and who has recently returned to 
his place among the practitioners of our bar. This time-honored jurist, states- 
man and advocate, to whom the jurisprudence of Louisiana owes so much, has 
been twice upon the Supreme Bench of the State, served many years since 
in the Legislature of the United States, and, while Roman was Governor, acted 
as our Secretary of State. Not less an accomplished scholar than a profound 
lawyer, of those recently upon the Supreme Bench, (not including Martin,) he 
was doubtless first in talents and judicial attainments. Much devoted to 
literary pursuits, he has been long known as a forcible and classical writer, and 
a man of elegant literary tastes. 

As an example of his style, his late eulogy upon his old blind friend Judge 
Martin, may be cited as a production of much elegance and finished taste. 
Eminently instructive now as a speaker, this gentleman has been in his younger 
years, an eloquent and forcible advocate. As a Judge, his decisions have ever 
been characterised by industry in search of authorities, and a lucidness of 
style, highly creditable to the scholar and the lawyer. Judge Bullard is a 
native of Massachusetts. He is a man of middle height, his features have 
been once handsome, and are still pleasing. He is, probably, sixty years of 
age. Agreeable as a social companion, he is respected, if not loved, by all who 
know him intimately. 

In regard to the members of our Supreme Court, as compared with the last, 
I would say, that there is no one, at present upon the bench, who may in the 
extent of his legal lore, compare with the old blind Judge — no one, who sur- 
passes the veteran Bullard in elegant attainments, or profound knowledge 
in the civil law. Taking the entire bench, it is a decided improvement upon 
the past. There is more energy, more industry, greater efforts to finish the 
immense business which every year increases in this tribunal. 

Their task is not. perhaps, so difficult as in times past. The men w'ho have 
Jixpil the law in this State, have cleared away the rubbish — have established 
metes and bounds — Martin, Porter, Matthews, and Derbigny have decided on 
almost every important matter arising under our peculiar system of jurispru- 



44 SKETCHES. 

dence. Hence the task of our present Court is comparatively easy ; henc3 
it is that even mediocre abilities may serve to meet the requirements of this 
Court. There may have been in the old Court, want of energy, want of industry, 
and want of that concert necessary to the performance of their arduous duties ; 
yet I must mention, in conclusion, one incident in my recollection, redounding 
to their eternal honor — that when one of their number had subjected himself to 
the suspicion of being the corrupt magistrate, the violator of tlie law — had 
committed crime and trampled honesty under foot, the veterans who had so long 
presided in this Court, who had so long maintained the majesty of the laws, 
refused to sit with their brother Judge, until he had purged the ermine of justice 
from the foul stains resting upon it, in his person, or until he had retired from 
the seat he had dishonored. 



NEW-ORLEANS DISTRICT COURT. 



STRAWBRIDGE AND MCHENRY. 

Judge Strawbridge, who presides in the Fourtli District Court of New 
Orleatis, is a native of Maryland, and was in early life devoted to mercantile 
pursuits. He came to Louisiana some twenty years since, and was appointed at 
one time to a seat upon the Supreme Bench, though he soon resigned this 
elevated station. Judge Strawbridge is very much of a lawyer, and very 
much of a man ; eccentric in his manners, though respected and loved by 
those who know him intimately. He is a man of much plainness, little fond 
of ostentation or display. He does not easily become acquainted; is slow in 
giving his confidence, but is the sure friend, never expressing more than he 
feels, or than he means to abide by. As a Judge, he is considerate, conscien- 
tious and just ; a man of little brilliancy, but of varied and solid attainments. 
He presides with dignity, and preserves the respect of those who wait upon 
his Court. In times past, Judge Strawbridge has been fond of company, and 
convivial in his habits and manners. With the advancement of years, this 
love of society has diminished, and in the midst of his family circle he seeks 
his chief enjoyments. The Judge is a man of acute intellect, nice perceptions 
and singular readiness. 

The business of the Fourth District Court is heavy, and it requires in its 
presiding officer, a man of great industry and discernment ; one thoroughly 
versed in mercantile law. In Judge Strawbridge I find higher qualities still. 
Habits of deep research, much experience and observation, and a determina- 
tion to do right, characterize this excellent Judge and accomplished man. He 
receives from the position he occupies not more honor than he confers upon it. 
Judge Watts, to whom I have elsewhere alluded, it will be recollected, 
preceded him as Judge of the Commercial Court. 

Judge Grima, a Creole lawyer of old standing in New Orleans, gained to 
himself no little distinction while Judge ot the Court at present presided over 
hy John McHenky. As deputy lo Attorney General Maziirean. ho arqiiired- 



46 SKliTCllliS. 

honor by his zeal and ability in the performance of his duties. We find him 
next in the Legislature, and thence appointed to judicial station. After acting^ 
for a considerable time as presiding .Judge of the City Court, (where among 
other decisions, he rendered one involving an important question in regard to 
one of the chief sources of our city revenue,) he was transferred to ,the 
Criminal Court Bench. In this post he continued several years. There is a 
great trial on record as having taken place during this period ; one which 
excited at the time an extraordinary interest — -that of the three Spaniards, 
Naratchez, Sorero and Fernandez, for the murder of Mayorquino. This (jase 
called forth the chief talent of the bar, and during its many days continuance, 
numerous questions were decided by the Judge, exhibiting much research and 
knowledge of his profession. Seldom has such a record of crime and iniquity 
been unrolled to public gaze than was shown in the career of these three 
Spaniards ; and, perhaps, no cause of greater magnitude finds place npon the 
records of this Court. 

Leaving the bench, Grima was appointed a Notary Public, and returned to 
his practice at the bar. He is a lawyer of no little research ; a man who 
possesses a large circle of friends ; a worthy type of creolism. Rather the 
counsellor than the advocate, he is one whose opinions are respected ; whose 
advice is sought in great causes ; whose name is often found ujjon the records 
of the Supreme Court. 

The veteran Canonge long presided upon this triljimal. This gentleman 
deserves honorable mention for his legal attainments, and the vigor and ability 
with which he performed duties more arduous and harassing than those 
pertaining to any other tribunal in New Orleans. The profound lawyer and 
able advocate, Isaac T. Preston, was appointed his successor — resigned, 
however, the office, a few months after his appointment, displaying while 
Judge, his usual talent, zeal and industry. 

A long and familiar acquaintance with Judge McHenry, the gentleman at 
present presiding in this Court, leads me to form a very favorable estimate of 
his character as a man, and his fitness for the station as a jurist. He wins 
respect by the courtesy of his manners and his untiring assiduity and attention 
to his official duties. Integrity, unwearied zeal and industry, qualities so 
essential to a worthy judicial magistrate, peculiarly pertain to him. 

Civil causes in his Court are quickly disjxjsed of, and without the provoking 
delays too often attending litigation. Before this tribunal so man}^ and so 
various causes are brought ; there is, too, so much business of an harassing and 
trivial nature, that we cannot wonder that at times it tries the patience of the 
Judge, and that it is difficult for him always to preserve that calmness and 
temper so essential to a good magistrate. 



SKETCHES. 47 

The Criminal, or First District Court, as it is well known, la frequented by 
younger members of the bar ; those just commencing their career — the petti- 
fogger — the fag end of the profession. A judicial magistrate in a Court 
which holds cognizance of all crimes, great and petty, against the majesty of 
the laws, harassed by annoyances of various kinds, must be more than 
human, if his equanimity be not occasionally disturbed. As a field, however, 
for the aspiring young lawyer and tlie gentleman, this arena is not without its 
advantages ; and to such, the Judge with that discernment so peculiar to him, 
accords every courtesy and every aid that lies in his power. Occasionally, too, 
this tribunal becomes the theatre for the display of the most brilliant talent of 
our bar. Great cases where life and death are at stake, elicit the public 
attention and draw out the giants of the profession. It is then that the 
influence and bearing of the Judge become of serious imi)ortance ; and I 
hesitate not Jo say, that, at such times, McHenry is not wanting to the high 
station he occupies. 

I would describe this gentleman's jiersonncl — ^but who is there that knows not 
McHenry? With a form almost gigantic, towering above every other at this 
bar ; of intelligent, though far from handsome features ; courtesy of manners 
approaching to excess; kindness, mildness and benevolence, stamped upon his 
countenance ; slow and thoughtful in his conversation, and composed and 
dignified in his address — such is the man that at pre-ent presides in the F.rst 
District Court. 



CANON, BUCHANAN AND KENNEDY. 

Kennedy is a young man, the youngest on the Orleans District Court 
Bench, but is a clear-headed, dignified and worthy officer ; one well fitted from 
erudition as a lawyer, self-possession as a man, and unbounded courtesy of 
manner, for judicial station. A young man, and yet old in legal knowledge — 
& young man called to hold one of the first ofiices of the State, and yet not 



48 SKETCHES. 

puffed up by his elevation. Kennedy is slow in his decisions, proceeds witli 
great caution and consideration, and is conscientiously correct. It would not 
be easy to impose upon this g^entleman, so anxious is he to understand fully 
the matter in hand before pronouncing his op nion. 

Kennedy is not a man of mere legal acquirements, but a fine belles-lettres 
scholar — a man of much reading and cultivation. He has travelled in foreign 
countries, and has cultivated his taste in the study of the masterpieces of the 
old world. He speaks with fluency several modern languages, and yet so 
simple is he in his manners, so modest and retiring in his disposition, so little 
anxious for display, that he must be well known to be at all appreciated. 
Slight in his figure, tall and well-formed, with a countenance expressing 
the gentlest character and most affectionate impulses, Kennedy wins upon 
the stranger, and at once creates confidence and esteem. His predecessor, 
Maurian, with great practical abilities, a mind well stored with the lore of 
the civil law, long experience and untiring assiduity, not a little adorned 
tlie station he filled. 

In modesty equal, in retirement of manners similar, these gentlemen differ 
greatly in their character as judges. The Creole of St, Domingo, older in 
years and experience, had served a long noviciate. If surpassing him in the 
knowledge of forms and details of the profession, Kennedy is at least as quick 
in pronouncing his decisions. Honored as a man, respected as a lawyer, 
there are few that have performed official duties like his, with more equity 
or'more estimable reputation than Maurian; and in again returning to the 
bar, this veteran brings with him an elevated and highly respected character. 
As a legislator, as a judge, and as man, he is a fine commentary upon the 
capability and worth of Creole character, when directed to noble and honor- 
able pursuits. 

As I have allud 1 to Judge Canon at length in another article, I would 
only remark at present, in passing, that, as a judicial magistrate, he seems 
ever desirous of awarding justice, excessively tenacious of order and method, 
and that he can be facetious, and often is so, without compromising the 
dicrnity of his station. The agreeable, facetious and courteous Canon, stands 
in many respects alone at this bar, and is a striking embodiment of excel- 
lencies of mind and purity of purpose. 

His predecessor, Joachim Bermudez, a Creole of St. Domingo was a man 
of fair though not brilliant abilities, though eminently fitted for the station 
he occupied. 

Judge Buchanan has presided for many years where we now find him — 
preserving his position longer than any other Judge in New Orleans. This in 
itself speaks loudly for his capacity and his fitness for judicial station. He 




SKETCHES. 49 

has long secured the confidence of the bar, and of his fellow-citizens by the 
accKrircy and correctness of his decisions, and the care and research he has 
broiig-ht to them. He studied the law in the oflice of Isaac T. Preston, and 
early distinguished himself as an advocate. 

He is a man o" very superior and varied attainments, and apart f -om the 
law, has devoted much attention to literature and science. A clear, terse and 
viciorous writer, his decisions do him honor as pieces of elegant composition. 
Versed in several languages, he brings to the bench ?, kind o," knowledge 
pecaharly valuable, and which enlarges much tlie sphere of his usefulness. 
In conversation he is agreeable, sententious and humorous. Somewlmt pre- 
judiced in his views, he yet is, upon the bench, the impartial and considerate 
Judge, and one who has the esteem of the profession. 

His p-edecesso.-, J udge [iOwis, well known to numerous o" the older members 
of the bar, presented a very different character from that of Buchanan, iji a 
legal point of view. That old Judge possessed warm ond kinr'I v feelings, noble 
and j^ene 'ous sentiments. The heart in him was stronger than the head. The 
man got far th'' better of the lawyer. (iOWis never had an enemy ; for to him 
frieinlship was the wine of life, and his very existence depended upoii the 
draughts he drank. The law of kindness was written on every day's record of 
his life. You will say, perhaps, that sucli ?. man was not fitted for his high 
station ; that Lewis presided ill at p. bar, which boasted a Livingston, p Duncan, 
a Moreau Lislet, a Porter, a Deibigny, and an Ellery ; on the contrary, they 
loved the good ohl man too well to take advantage of his kindly feelings ; they 
respected their characters too highly as advocates, to forget what was due to 
the station he occupied. The annals of that day remain to be told. 

In them, the lyro at our modern bar might find many an exariiple of that 
high principle and chivalry, that pride of caste, which gave once to the French 
advocate his nobOity of character, and threw around him such dignity and 
power. In reading the reported cases of those days, one is struck witli the 
research, the information and the subtle logic displayed by these old counsellors 
and adv icates. Impudence now too often usurps the place of firmness ; a 
desire of fees has pushed aside sensibility to princijile, Jiauteur of manner 
masks the ancient pride of character peculiar to the advocate. 

Ignorance and want of common sense exalt themselves above modesty, 
diffidence and real ability. " The chastity of honor, which felt a stain like a 
w;ound," does )iot, as in times of old, clothe our noble profession. Th(ise times, 
the lawyers of our early day, reuiain to be portrayed. They require the 
hand of a master. It is an easier task to paint the living than the dead. 
7 



THE PULPm 



CLAPP AND SCOTT. 

The stranger in New Orleans, in considering the moral tone of society, is 
led to suppose its standard among us as far from elevated. Wbellier this be 
the factor nol, I do not undertake to determine. At a distauce, in the north- 
ern and eastern cities, such is its reputation. If an apparent disregard for 
certain utas'cs ihat are wont to I^e deemed sacred, be ground for this opinion, 
may-be, that such a view of things has some basis on which to rest itsc'f. It 
does not, however, follow, that becanse immorality is more open la its manifes- 
tations, that there is more of it here ihan elsewhere. The constant influx of 
population and its transient character, may have its influences in removing the 
restraints which exist in older cilies. and nnder a more settled foi-m of society ; 
bu5 itiry'ght be perhaps easily demonstrated, that if, in New York, in Philadel- 
phia, and in Boston, the apparent tone of morals is higher, through the influence 
of public opinion, yet, that under the curtain of secrecy, there is quite as much 
immorality there, or more than with us. Human nature, in civilized life (to use a 
common aphorism), is pretty much the same every where. Under the cloak of 
hypocrisy, vice may ea-ily conceal itself; and I suppose it will be conceded that 
hypocrisy is hot morality. 

New Orlean.s should not be accountable foi- the vices and immoralities of its 
Iransicnt population. Numerous are the examples of those who come among 
us fi'om abroad, removed as they imagine, from the restraints which control 
them at homo, strangers in the midst of our society, v\-ho in want of pastime 
and of friends, fall into dissipated habits. The isolated position of this 
numerous class of oui' population, is the true cau,-e of their excesses, and 
should not be attributed to the immoral character of our noble city. Go 
among our people who belong to the elite, go among our merchants, our 
professional men, and go if you please among the middle ranlTs. and, trust me,, 
if you go to seek probity, honor, scorn of every thing mean or little, generous 
sentiments, friendly feelings, the heart of sympathy, and true charity, the 



SKETCHES. 51 

highest traits of the rehgious and the moro.l man, you will find tliem here 
as elsewhere ; and filially, go to our clergy, and you ^vill find piciy, indepen- 
dence, bo'dnoias in the cause of tlicir great Maritcr, and coiirtige in contending 
with vice and immorality in every form. 

Tiie gentlemen whose names I liave placed at the head of iliis notice, rank 
li"-t among the clergy of New Orleans ; and perhaps 't wonhl be difficult to 
find in the United Sti^tes, two men wiio more adorn the cie'-ical jHofession. 
They are both original thinkers — both men who have studied deeply into the 
springs of liuman action. Both have learned to apply the philosophy taught 
in books to the philosophy of liie. Students of njinre, they h:ive marked the 
workings of God in the outward luiivci'se — the ve._<turc which makes manifest 
His presence — and through these " have read the language of anoLhcr world.'' 

Clapp, possessed of a finely culti\Tttcd imagiiuitinn, raahiiar with the history 
of the past, living in the present, and glancing with prophetic vision into the 
future, his memory stored with the bi-ighte-^t gems of pootiy and fiction, a well 
read theologian, a powerful conti-oversialiit, wi;h an intellect "as rich as 
heaven, with all its garniture of sUirs"' — dibcotn'-es vigorously, beautirdly, 
solemnly, eloquently ! 

ScoTT, with less imagination, experience, and observation, a logician, a 
truthful expositor, an energetic speaker, a bold and fearless advocate of 
principle and of truth, teaches the i'aith without fear, without repro;'ch. The 
one. a veteran in New Orleans, the other much younger; both exercise sway 
over large audiences. 
• Mr. Clapp has enriched his mind v/ith stores of knowk-ige in every walk 
of science, art and literature. He interest^ his audience by his apposite and . 
various illustratio:!^;, canying him sometimes so far, that tiie inattentive auditor 
would perhaps charge him with wanderinirfrom Jn's subject — the close ©bserver 
be struck with his jjowerin bringing all to bear upon the point at issue. He 
excels in many of the a'-ts of the oral or — hi,; voice is finely modulated — his 
tones, at times, tender, soothing, sad ; at times, elevated, energetic, moving — 
now sinking to the lowest key, a whisper, heard throughout the vast church, 
and now rising in full diapason, like the tones of an orgaji. His gesture is 
generally good — though at times, perhaps, a thought too impassioned; and his 
elocution excellent, though not always perfectly distinct. 

It is difficult to say with what sect to class this gentleman. The leading 
doctrines he inculcates are manifestly those of the Unitarians, though lie 
preaches Universalism, which is greatly at variance with them. He is, 
however, evidently opposed to Galvanism in every form, and herein appears his 
consistency, which I have heard often doubted, though his opponcnis seldom 
are willing to explain v/herein it is wanting in him. 



52 SKETCHES. 

The great power of this pulpit orator is evidently found in his thorough 
.knowledge of those to whom he speaks, and the motives which actuate the 
mass of mankind. IJe uses no notes, and by tliis is greatly assisted, as it 
enables him to go forth more widely in search of illustrations, and to make 
liimse^ '' inoj-e sui icd to the audience am 1 the occasion. 

Earnestness, rerveot zeal, and energetic language characterize the manner 
and style of Ibe Re/. Mr. Scott. He is a perfect embodiment of modern 
Galvanism — though he wears about him the garb oi" celestial charity, unknown, 
we believe, in a great degree, to the Genevan apostle. He can sc-arcely be 
termed e'oquent, tliou§,h his manner is too impressive not to hold the ottentiom 
captive, and to arrest the wandering thoughts. His style is characterized by 
nevvoasiiess, strength and peospicuiLy, though it warts the eloquence and piuily 
of another p.dpit orator in this cuy, to whom we shall, ere long, have occasion 
to allude. 

Mr. Scott is a ripe scholar and thproiLgWy versed in sacred lore. His 
gi'eat claim to respect is the fe? rless utterance he gives to universal freedom 
anil tolerance of sentiment, his unbounded faich in the grandeur of the human 
intellect, whether fooad in the rich or the poor man, and the equality of man in 
his claims to respect, as man, whatever be his walk in life. He is emphati- 
cally the preacher of the people — of the mass — and as " God is no respecter of 
pci'sonSj" we must give him credit for his popular faith, for his charitable 
spirit. 

In comparing these two pillars of Cln-ist':^ church in this city, we would say, 
that to tlie first, we must accord the palm of eloqifence : we achu'ce him for » 
his groat attainments, for his impressive manner, for the. grandeur of his views, 
and tlie fearless disregard for popvdarity in the expression of his sentiments ; 
while in the second, we cannot but be struck with the earnest zeal and fervent 
piety which mark his discourses; we admire him for the labor — the spiritual 
unction therein displayed, and the strength and ability with which he seeks to 
declare the " whole counsel of God," and in fine we admire them both, as menj 
and as Christians. 



HAWKS AND MULLEN. 

These two iadividnals differ widel)' iu mental organization, thoiig-li they both 
wield great pp'ritual influciice over large classes nf our citizens. The day of 
preaching is not what it once was; and even at times we are led to s^iippose 
that, comparatiiply speaking, little good is done by the best and greatest of 
our divines. The iact is, the clerical character is notreve^'enced as in the 
days of oou* fathers. So many wolves in sheep's clothing have entered the 
fold, that distrust exists in minds where once b'ind fa'th had its hmne. The 
cloak of religion has been so oCtcn assumed to cover a multitude oT sins, 
that the clc'-gy, as a class, no longer lead the people blind-fold. Their sacred 
character is not exempt from scrutiny, and the dogfoas that blinded the 
wise in other day* are now exposed in all their bearings and tendencies. 
Yet we believe that there are many that keep guard ujmn the strong-holds of 
Zion, who guide the people in the paths of truth and holiness, and who are 
worthy bearers of the cross of Christ. 

We live in an age when every thing procVims progress. Old siiperstiiions 
are rapidly passing away, a cA we think we can observe in the religious world, 
the elements of a new era in tlie means of saving souls. Admirers, as we 
are, of the grand and imposing rites of the Catholic faith, and believing that 
music, painting, poetry, sculpture, arcliitecture, and every noble art, should 
combine in offering honors at the shrine of .Deity, yet, at the same time, in 
a republic like ours, we prefer the graiuf simplicity of rite pnd worship, which 
in nature, every where proclaims God's presence. 

The elegant scholar, the pure writer, the clear logician, the profound 
theologian, all eminently appear in Dr. Hawks. He is a native of Mortli 
Carolina, has received a liberal education, and possesses many social 
accomplishments. His style is perspicuous, energetic and flowing. He 
interests his hearer by his calm and easy manner, and by a voice of 
great compass and sweetness. He has little of the declaimer in his de- 
livery, though admirable for grace, elegance and distinctness. He speaks 
rather to persuade than to move, and excites rather pleasing emotions tlian pas- 



54 SKETCHES. 

Bionate ones. Handsome in person, composed in address, the gentleman of re- 
finement and ediic;uioii Is not to be mistaken. Though not llJn^• a ro^idoat of 
this citj', lie has already won for hiaiselfa reputalion cu\ iniilc ;nd di>tingi!ished. 
His audience is large a)id continually on the increase. In private lile he is the 
agi'eeahle man of the world, and possesses an easy flow of conversation, without 
ever '• over-stepping the mcjuesty nf nature." In his addresses to tlie young, he 
is peculiarly iuterestiug. I had the pleasure of hearing him on one occasion 
some months since, and was particuhirly struck with the facility ho possessed 
in imparting religious trut'i* to the young mind, and wi;h the gentleness of 
his manner, so winning and capiivaling to childhood. Dr. Hawks, I wonld 
remark, in passing, is the recently appointed President of the University of 
Loiii.-iana. 

The Rev. Mr. Mullen nc:l dnivvs our attention as the most eloquent 
Cafhohc divine in onr ciiy. Mr. Mullen is associated in our mind hoth as 
priest and layman. One of the hierarchy, and one (mo t clearly) of the 
people. Bold, strong, and original, lie bursts upon his auditors in language at 
oi)ce chaste and pev^picT^ous — a natu^.i] orator, displaying little or no art. 
ALhletic in frame, lai-ge and muscular in his proportions, he reminds one of 
the stalwart priests of olden time, who put on the armor and cuirass and 
Vv'ent fortJi to do b.i.ttle ^or the cro-s. He is rough wiihal, and in iu's invectives 
against vice and cime, he is sometime^ grand, always forcible. 

Bishop England was a man versed in all the lore of ancient and modern 
times; he brought his illustrations from the records ol' the vvhole past. Sub- 
liine in his fliglits, he seemed iiTscued with the spirii of the divine Dante, and 
painied tlie future world of Vae y^'ickcc?, so fearfully, so truthfully, tliat a cold 
shudder would slrakc the frame and tC3 rcr be depicted on the countenace of 
his auditors — the v.'orld ol the blest so gloriously, so glowingly, so beautii'uliy 
that the spirit would seem to di diiin the bonds that confined it, llie eye^ distil 
tears of heart fell joy and rapiiire. Bishop England was indeed an orator, 
gretit, sublime, thrilling! It were a sin lo liken Mullen will) such a giant 
in eloquence and intellect, and yet tliere is some little resemblance between 
the two. We cannot tell exactly in wIkJ — it may be simply in physical or- 
tranization. Bir^hop England ever vai^^ed the thoughts from earih to heaven, 
comparing with MassiJlon In splend™-, with Fletcher in grandeur, and with 
Bossuct ill eloquence. Father Mullen, a thousand times move contracted in 
his rano-e of tliougbt, seizes upon the presentfor ill. 's! rations — the vvorld around 
him; a close observer of men, their passions aad their desires, he inveighs 
poainst their avarice, their meanness, t'leir worldliness, and tlieir petty vices, 
fearlessly, eloquently. He is by no means a common man, and one, who, if 
we mistake not, is destined yet to wear high honors in the Catholic church. 



SKETCHES, 55 

The Catholic portioji of our population is larger, probably, than that of any 
otiier, and embraces_most, if not all, the Creoles of this State ; and may it 
continue to raise up sons of the church worthy of bearing tlie cross— men 
who will speak what') liey coni:eive to be iJie iruih, energetically, fearlessly- 
We like this trail in Father Mu.llcn, as we always like tl'e bold deijiocratic 
spirit, whether under the cowl of the monk, or breaking forth from the hps 
of one of the secular friends of the people. 



WOOLDEIDGE, NICHOLSON AND CROSS. 

How [cw there ai-c endowed wUii qnaKties fiiting them fur spiritual advi.-ers 
and cotin~e!lors? How many eml>racc "a profcssioji (or which mi1iire never 
intended them ? In \ny estimate of tlie -linisters o^ our holy religion, I have in 
my mind so elevated a standard; and I see so I'cw that begin to compass my 
ideal, that I al'.r.o^L fear to veuLiire upon the ta^k that lies before rae, 'c-t I may 
really undervalue veiy superior abilities. To believe in the counsels of men, 
their lives must be exemplary — must be pure and unspotted. To insiriict or 
persuade, they must be possessed of very supe^-ior attaiiimcnts. To touch the 
heart, or move to action, they should be endowed with eloquence, tliey should 
undei'stund thorougiily ijie natui-es to which tiiey appeal. Their knowledge 
Siiouldbe as wide as the universe, lor they .-peak of God. The kiw of kiod- 
noss should ever dwell upon thel>' lips, for benevolence is the great virtue of 
Deity. Gentleness, the most beautiful trait of tiic meek and lowly Jesus, 
should mark tlieir intercourse with their i'eliow beings. Fenelon, Obeilin, 
Choverus and Channing, have been beautiful examplars of the spirit that shouM 
ciiaroctcrize the true teacher of religion. In them, the fancy may easily trace 
for itself sweetness of temper and of manner, faces clothed in benignity anti 
smiles, the eye of hope and trust. The same beautiful traits combined with 
fervent zeal and devout enthusiasm, one may imagine as existing also in a 



56 SKETCHES. 

pre-eminent degree in Priestly, Whitfield and Fletcher. Yet how few there are 
in our day, that begin to exemplify in themselves the characteristics that so 
nobly adornei' these great servants of the cross. 

I have selected Mr. Wooldridge as one wort])y to l)e portrayed, for the gentle- 
ness, the excel'ence of his character and the purity and trutli of his life : and 
]\Ir. Nicholson, p far more brilliant pulpil orator, a man greatly loved and 
admired, more showy in his qualities and more given to display • nnd lastly, 
Mr. Cross. Wesley, the foimder of the simple and beautiful faith of the 
Methodists, would not be ashamed of this young preacher, who brings to 
the service of the sanctunry a liberal and highly cultivated mind, talent of no 
ordinary caste, simplicity of character and of manner, and enthusiasm void 
oi fanaticism. 

Ml*. WuoLDKrDGE is a native of South Carolina, and a graduate of Columbia 
College, in that State. He was for many years a Professor in the College of 
Jackson, and finally, if I mistake not. President of that Institution, ile was 
during the first pe-'od of his life, a follower of the faith of Wesley, and a 
clei-gyman in that evangelical church. Finally, yielding to hin convictions, 
he enibraced the doctrines of Channing a,s the rule of life. The thinkino- man 
and the scholar. Wooldkidge chose to bring his reason to the oracles of God, 
and believing tliat man's highest faculties were made to bo employed in the 
investigation of the truths of religion, an in other things, he rose from his 
studies the Unitarian Christian. He preaches but seldom, yet his discourses 
are cliaracterizedby a depth of thoug-ht, of originality and comprehensiveness 
of topics that mark the mind of native strength and purely classic education. 
Not having any church of his own. th's gentleman has been compelled to 
engage in secular pursuits, and is well know in iVew Orleans as the efficient 
and able assistant of the present incumbent of our Post Office. Mr. Wool- 
DRI33GE is an elegant writer, and has published one work on education of high 
literary merit. 

Mr. NicHOLSOK has been bug known as the Pastor of thf Poydras street 
Church. As a preacher of Methodism, he acquired a high reputation foi his 
eloquent delivery and varied acquirements. He has recently entered the folds 
of Episcopacy, and wd] doubtless prove to that sect a valuable auxiliary. His 
discourses abound in illustrations, and he is himself, tlie very embodiment of 
enthusiasm. Among our pulpit orators, he deserves a truly elevated position. 
The spiriluelle, breathes in all his words — fire from the altar burns upon his 
lips. His voice is full, clear, sonorous, his gestures elegant and finished, and 
his manner, interesting and in good taste. In his person, handsome, in his 
conversation, easy and agreable, Nicholson is generally a favorite — generally 
popular. 



SKETCHES. 57 

In Cross, whom 1 introduce as a type of pure Methodism, I find also many 
traits of excellence. For myself, I am no sectary ; whoever in spirit and in 
truth worships the benificent Author of nature, whether in the great temple of 
the universe, every where proclaiming- God's presence — in his own soul, full of 
the voices of divinity — in the magnificent and loftily-arched cathedral, adorned 
with saintly images and aristocratic pomp ; or in the simple meeting-house, 
raised by as simple hands to the worship of the spirit of the universe, that man 
is my brother, and I have for him, 1 trust, that charity which is religion. 

Religion, we are told in sacred Vv^-it, comes in the still small voice — it speaks 
to us in the revelations of the inner spirit — in the soft and gentle harmonies of 
nature. In the certainty of her presence in the soul, it is not wonderful that 
the heart breaks forth in songs of gladness — in loud clamors of joy. Those 
were the halcyon days of the church, when the eloquent Whitfield, the devout 
Wesley, awakened in the multitudes that sought them in the fields, those songs of 
gladness — those loud shoutings, that testified to their faith and their hope. When 
the worlding laughs — the reviler scoffs at the Methodist foi- his clamor and his 
shouting — celestial charity should instruct him that God alone looketh into the 
heart of man, that God alone knoweth, if this people worship in spirit and in truth. 

Cross is a native of England, has, however, spent the greater portion of his 
life in this country. Some thirty-four years of age, his acquirements are very 
great. Filled with the spirit of devotional enthusiasm, and having a fine com- 
mand of language, his ideas flow with rapidity, and seize ever favorably upon 
the popular ear. As the pulpit orator, he is interesting, full and persuasive. 
By no means master of the human heart, yet much of an observer of men, he 
appeals forcibly to their sympathies, their passions, and their prejudices, nor are 
his appeals without effect. As a contributor to the more elevated periodical 
literature of the day, as the author of the life of the popular Welch preacher, 
Evans, and the translator of his eloquent and vigorous discourses, Cross has 
given an example of diffuse, finished and elegant writing, highly creditable to 
his head and heart. In conversation, he is easy and agreeable, remarkable for 
the simplicity and sincerity of his manner and his eagerness to please. As a 
poet, he is not without his claims to respect, and in the lighter kinds of compo- 
sition greatly excels.* There is nothing in his personal appearance particularly 
striking, though the more you become acquainted the more he wins upon you. 



* In the early annals of Louisiana, there is abundant material for poetry, though as yet 
but few have seized upon it. In very early times, a Creole descrihed in verse, the lieroism 
of the Indian Chief, who, in the absence of his son, surrendered himself to the avenging 
while man, and was sacrificed to his barbarity, more fell in those days than that of the 
savage himself. Tliis, with one other, a juvenile production of T. W. Colli.xs. Esq., are 
the only dramas of our early history, told in verse, and the first has long since perished, 
though the legend still remains. Our early history is one succession of romances. The 



68 SKETCHES. 

In comparing these three gentlemen, I would remark t!iat the first presents a 
great contrast to the other two. Wooldridge is qniet and composed : Nichol- 
son and Cross, warm and animated. Wooldridge, possessed of little imagina- 
tion, arrives at conviction through force of reason. Nicholson and Cross, 
poetic, fanciful, and fall of the ideal, aim at the feelings, and seldom fail of 
reaching them. Wooldridge, in his gesture, is calm and collected ; Nicholson, 
rapid, ardent, graceful ; Cross, easy, elegant, emphatic. Wooldridge, in his 
style is plain, natural, and diffuse ; Nicholson, ornamental, logical, and artifi- 
cial ; Cross, clear, full of illustration, and concise. In the first, the river flow- 
ing slowly, though in fall current, through the cultivated valley ; in the second, 
the pellucid streamlet, fringed with flowers, dashing rapidly onward in uninter- 
rupted course ; in the third, the mountain current, broken at times by the beau- 
tiful cascade, and hastening on, through peopled vale, through mountain passes, 
to a frll and quiet sea. The three were educated in Wesley's school ; the last, 
only, has adhered to the teachings of his great master. In the first, there is 
more cultivation, more sincerity, more patience ; in the second, more brilliancy, 
more warmth, more vivacity; and in the last, more simplicity, more energy, 
more versatility of talent. Wooldridge has ceased to be ambitious ; Nichol- 
son would climb the loftiest height to be gazed on by the crowd below ; nor is 
Cross, I believe, void of the sin by which the angels fell. The first is content, 
satisfied with his lot ; the second never will be, I believe, until he wears the 
mitre ; the third, in the midst of literary pursuits and a crowd of admirers, 
would find his element — would be perfectly happy. Wooldridge has mingled 
with the world, makes little distinction between priesthood and laity ; Nicholson 
knows little of the first, save what he has read in books, nor is Cross much his 
superior in this respect. Wooldridge manifests in his actions, that man was 
made for the business of life and for the world — not for the cloister or the 
counting of beads. Nicholson, attaching himself to the hierarchy, loses the 



achievements — the adventures of Ponce de Leon. De Soto and La Salle are, tlie 
finest subjects for epic poetry. No pen has yet described in immorlal verse tlie heroism 
of those v^'ho perished martyrs to Spanish cruelty — of Villere, and of her, noblest 
and most devoted of women, his wife ; nor the valor of that bold rover Rousseau, who in 
his little brigantine, attacked an overwhelming force of Spaniards at Pensacola and cap- 
tured their fort. These are but a few of the subjects that might claim the attention of the 
true poet. Ours, too, is a clime, like Italy, one that excites the liveliest passions — the 
food for verse. It is a land where woman reigns in ten thousand phases of truth and 
loveliness — and she has ever moved the first chords of the Poet's lyre. Nor is Louisiana 
totally without her bards. Mrs. Da Ponte, Mrs. Dinnies, and Mrs. Cross, have given us 
Bome exquisitely beautiful poetry. Strawbridge, Gould, Canonge, Howard, the eccentric 
Van Dalsen deserve perhaps even more than a passing notice. I know not to whom we 
are to attribute a recent production by '"Nemo of Louisiana." The verse however, is 
smooth and musical, the sentiment beautiful, and as a short production, I have seen 
uothing like it emanating here. The writer .--hould be someUiiiig more than a mere 
fugitive poi't. 



SKETCHES. 5i» 

lesson that mingling amid the cares and struggles of life would afford liim, nor 
can he experience the temptations to vice, (the proudest triumphs of virtue in 
him who overcomes them) that in his discourses he teaches others so eloquently 
to avoid. Cross, in the simplicity of his peculiar faith, in his gentleness of 
manner, and his intei'course with the world, manifests in himself a spirit mild 
amiable and truthful. Modesty, charity and truth ; love, faitli and hope ; sin- 
cerity, piety and enthusiasm, alternate in the three, and find in all striking 
exemplification. 



MSTmSUISMED MEIV OF LOUISIAM. 



JOHNSON, GAYAHRE AND ELMOEE. 

I SELECT on the present occasion as subjects for my sketch, a Louisianian 
of Anglo-American descent, a Creole oi Louisiana, and a native of South 
Carolina. 

Isaac Johnson was born in the Parish of West Feliciana, some forty-three 
years since. He has lived always in his native State — never, indeed, having 
passed its limits. Popular and beloved at home, in the exercise of the most 
beneficent virtues, he has reversed the scripture maxim "that a prophet is not 
v/ithout honor, save in his own country and and among his own Idn." 

Rising in rapid succession through the various military grades of Colonel, 
Brigadier General, and Major General, he had but one higher step to mount 
in the noble profession of arms in his native State, and that he has attained. 
Civic honors have not the less illustrated his career. We find him at one 
time representing his Parish in the State Councils ; appointed at the early age 
of thirty-one, to the highly responsible office of Judge of the Third District 
of the State, and honored while serving in this capacity, by Governor Mouton, 
with the distinguished appointment of Secretary of State. This position re- 
tained but a short time, he is re-appointed Judge of the Third District ; is 
selected on account of his legal attainments, to preside in the Criminal Court 
of Appeals ; and finally, called by an overwhelming majority of his fellov/- 
citizens to the first post of dignity and trust in his native State. In all these 
oftices he has shown himself fully equal to the trusts reposed in him ; active 
and energetic in the discharge of his legislative duties, thoroughly impartial 
as a Judge, and, in military affairs, evincing his abilities by the high grades 
in which he has served. 

As a lawyer, we have the best reasons for knowing that he was learned 
and acute ; as a jurist, profound and well-read ; as a speaker, lie'is easy, grace- 
ful, and ' eloquent — his gestures appropriate, liis language chaste and forcible, 



SKETCHES. 61 

shountling In clear illustration and brilliant metaphor : in his style as a writer 
elegant, concise, and severely correct, without superabundance of ornament. 

Johnson is tall, well-formed and muscular, and looks as though nature had 
made him to wear the robes of office. Dignity, benevolence, the most exalted 
virtues, sit enthroned upon his majestic mien, and his well known character, 
both in public and in private, do not belie the external developments. He 
lives, when in retirement, some two miles from St. Francisville, in a beautiful 
retreat, where nature and art combine to rear a home that tells of the elegance 
of the tastes and the love of rustic pleasures, which belong to the proprietor. 
In this home, hospitality has planted her blessed influences, and the free 
heart and open hand, characteristic of the southern planter, alike manifest 
their cheering presence. 

William A. Elmore has been residing nov/, for many years in this city, 
engaged in the practice of his profession. He is a man of large proportions, 
and possesses a countenance mild, agreeable, and calculated to win confidence. 

Mr. Elmore is probably some thirty-seven years of age, dignified in mien 
and figure, and, in his intercourse with others, easy and agreeable, thougli 
retiring in his manners. This gentleman's experience at the bar can scarcely 
place him on a level with the eminent lawyers and advocates who preceded 
him in the high office of Attorney General. As a speaker, however, he is 
collected and self-possessed, his language abounding in well-selected terms, 
and ideas clearly set forth, never overstepping the bounds of moderation; 
neither warm nor enthusiastic, without brilliancy, yet at the same time com- 
manding attention by the perspicuity of his arrangement and the appositenes.s 
of his illustrations. A man of excellent heart and noble sentiments, he wins 
the regard of those who know him intimately, and wears his honors without 
pride or ostentation. 

Chakles Gayaere I have long known, and speak of him with the confidence 
of intimate knowledge. A little above the middle height, he is slight in his 
proportions, though at the same tim.e manly and well-formed. He is probably 
forty years of age. His manners are easy and elegant, and calculated to 
win ftie esteem and confidence of the stranger. In conversation he is pleasing 
and interesting. Upon his brow are impressed the lines of tiiought and 
intelligence. 

He has shown himself an elegant writer in various walks of literature, 
but chiefly as the historian, far excellence, of his native State. Clearness 
and elevation, characteristics that should ever pertain to productions devoted 
to the historic muse, are peculiar to his style. He ha? already compiled from 
the most authentic mem.orials and given to the world, two volumes of a work 
that promises not less renown to the author than advantage to the State, 
clothed a? it is in the fairest liabiliments of elegance and truth. 



C-2 SKETCHES. 

Elected, years since, a representative in the lower house of our State Legis- 
lature, he established for himself a worthy and distinguished reputation, touch- 
ing no subject which he did not illustrate, and engaged in no measure of 
public interest which he did not advance. Chosen a United States Senator 
by tho Legislature, he never served, though the honor pertains to him of 
having proved himself, in the eyes of his fellow-citizens, worthy of the trust. 
Absent for some years in France, (in consequence of the precarious state of 
his health,) he returned two years since to the land of his birth. While 
devotinf himself to a useful and patriotic work, he was a second time called 
to a seat in the House of Assembly ; and, finally, his well-known abilities 
considered, received his present distinguished and responsible appointment. 

Gayarre traces his lineage through a long succession of eminent men 
connected with the early history of our State At his house you will find 
him surrounded by many choice productions of the painter's art, chiefly 
family portraits, which exhibit in their selection a refined and cultivated taste. 
This penchant for the art is truly to be admired, as tending greatly to elevate 
the character. A statue, a picture, preaches a discourse more powerful than 
that of the pulpit, if it remind the observer of a character once the living 
model of virtue, nobility of soul, grandeur of intellect, unshaken patriotism. 
If, in such connection, I may be permitted to allude to an ancient people, I 
would say, that it was the statues of illustrious ancestry that surrounded the 
young Roman in his "almighty city," that gave to him the patriotic and 
magnanimous characteristics, which have ever since been tiiemes for the poet, 
and the admiration of all whose feelings are alive to valor or to virtue. 



LANDUY AND FARRAK. 

Our Lieutenant Governor, and the late Speaker of the House of Represent 
tatives form the subject of my present sketch. The former of these gentlemen 
is a Creole of Louisiana — the latter a native of Kentucky. Col. Farrar 
counts some thirty-seven years ; Mr. Landry somewhat more. The President 
of the Senate, the Speaker of the House, both exercised thsir duties in a 
dignified manner ; and the acquaintance of the latter with parliamentary 
usages, gave him in his responsible position,_pecuiiar claims to respect. They 
are both courteous in manner, and easy in their address, and are gentlemen in 
every sense of the word. 

Mr. Landry is above the middle height, is possessed of an agreeable counte- 
nance, a manly and athletic form, expressive and prepossessing features — is 
mild in his manner, and apparently of remarkable evenness of temperament. 
He has lived much in retirement, and it would seem, prefers its repose to more 
active scenes. He has, however, served in both Houses of the Legislature, 
and has never hesitated to maintain tlie principles of democracy — never, for a 
moment, swerved from the cause of the people. His family interest is a great 
one, and his name is found in many parishes surrounding that of St. Landry, 
though he may be considered as first among its representatives. He is a good 
though not an eloquent speaker. His style and manner are dignified and 
commanding, and he is one whose influence is felt, both on account of his 
superior intelligence, and the justness of his views and sentiments. 

Mr. Landry is a sugar planter, and a man of wealth. He has never 
known adversity, but has always sailed along the calm current of existence. 
Not ambitious of distinction, his talents have yet served to elevate him in the 
eyes of his fellow-citizens ; not aiming at high station, he has not refused it 
when within his reach. As a Louisianian, he deserves distinguished mention, 
as a true representative of a large portion of our citizens. A member of one 
of the oldest Creole families, he has not degenerated from his ancestry, but 
holds a worthy and honored place in the esteem of his countrymen. 

Col. Farrar has regular and decidedly handsome features — he is of the 
middle height, and a little inclined to corpulency. His countenance is 



64 SKETCHES. 

remarkably expressive, and bears tlie stamp of good nature, and every amiable 
quality. The fullness of the lips denotes voluptuousness, and at the same time 
a generous spirit. It is, on the whole, a striking physiognomy, and one which 
prepossesses agreeably the stranger, and at once creates confidence. 

A graduate of Transylvania University in its palmiest days. Col. Farrar 
possesses a classic taste, and a highly cultivated intellect. Hence, his style of 
writing and conversation is chaste, elegant and correct. He is an attractive 
and eloquent speaker, possessing great command of language and abundant 
stores of imagery. Calm, energetic ; deliberate, rapid ; pointed, versatile ; 
practical, fanciful ; he interests and holds captive the attention. His gestures, 
his features, all conspire to add force to tlje words that fall from his lips. 

A great admirer of poetry, he has himself cultivated the Muses with no 
ordinary success ; his productions in this department breathing a refinement of 
sentiment and a beauty of imagery that are worthy of note. As a social 
companion, he is not less the life of the convivial circle, than of the coterie 
where sweet woman reigns. The sparkling repartee, the joyous anecdote, the 
good-humored witticism, are the charms which render him ever acceptable as 
a companion, agreeable as a gentleman. Refinement, elegance, varied accom- 
plishments^-the chief traits that adorn the higher circles of life — have in Col. 
Farrar a representative of no common order. There is, too, in his manner, 
an ease, earnestness, and truthfulness, that fail not to attract and win upon the 
stranger. Few men possess a wider circle of friends, and no man is better 
calculated to keep those acquired. 

He established himself early in Mississippi as a lawyer, and was very suc- 
cessful, having a large and profitable practice. He is an excellent Constitu- 
tional and Admiralty lawyer ; indeed, if I do not greatly err, has few superiors 
in our city in these departments of the law. Early devoting himself to 
political life, he served for ten successive years in the Legislature of Mis- 
sissippi, and thus acquired that experience of Legislative proceedings which 
have so recently elevated him in this State. He has been a resident of 
Louisiana some eight years, devoting himself to his profession. Col. Farrar 
is a strong whig, not a partisan, but a firm and unshrinking follower of the 
Clay school of politics. 

I have thus selected from the Legislature, two citizens who deserve men- 
tion on account of the large space they at present fill in the public eye. 
Their careers are but commenced, and I doubt not that they may yet climb 
Ftill liigher in public estimation. Be talent ever properly honored in a country 
li];e ours ! Let pretenders, the fire-flies of our summer atmosphere, pass 
away like those ephemeral existences — but merit, true merit — be it ever 
honored ! The Etructures that mental exertion raises, are more durable than 



SKETCHES. 65 

those of brass and marble. Augustus Caesar boasted that he found Rome 
built of brick, and left it a marble citj^ ! The Roman might have made a 
more splendid boast, had he known that after times would have consecrated 
his reign, as the Ax-,gust?n age of letters. The works of the master spirits 
of those times survive, while the monuments of the architect have crumbled 
into dust. Let Americans in the youth of their magnificent republic, honor 
eloquence, poetry, literary taste. They elevate — they refine. They are the 
true monuments of a people's greatness ; and however manifested among us, 
should be greeted with honor and respect. 



WALKER AND SLIDELL. 

Joseph Walker now holds the office of State Treasurer. He was born in 
tlie city of New Orleans, some sixty-one years since, of poor yet highly res- 
pectable parentage. He owes the acquirements he possesses, the elevated 
position he has occupied for some twenty-five years past in his native State, to 
his own unassisted and untiring energies, having been, in every respect, the 
self-made man. He is of large proportions, tall, well made and muscular, and 
possessed of a mild and agreeable countenance. His manner is cordial, win- 
ning and peculiarly acceptable to the stranger. Interesting and animated in 
conversation, in convivial scenes he is the life of his party, and abounds in 
gaiety and humor. General Walker has been several times elected a mem- 
ber of the upper and lower House of our State Legislature, and presided with 
distinction over the late Convention called to amend the Constitution of the 
State, the highest and niost honorable position he has ever filled. 

General Walkes. has cv ;: r-izintained the principles of the democratic party. 

In him, the State possesses a scrupulous and conscientious officer — one, 

who, without brilliant abilities, possesses many of the characteristics of 

the statesman. Without th(* advantage* of a liberal education, he has yet 

-9^ 



66 SKETCHES. 

stored his mind with numerous interesting and valuable attainments, is fluent 
in the French and Spanish languages, and at home in the politics of his party. 
A lover of his State, he studies her prosperity and renown, and deserves well 
at the hands of his fellow-citizens. Without conceding to him any extraordi- 
nary capacities, I must yet award him traits of honesty, kindness of heart, 
indomitable perseverance and energy of purpose. 

John Slidell is one totally different in the elements of talent and character. 
He holds an elevated position in this State, and may be considered as one oi 
the principal leaders of the democratic party. A native of New York, he has 
been a resident among us some twenty-five years. A man of superior abilities, 
he has received every advantage that a careful and liberal education can be- 
stow. Arriving in New Orleans poor and friendless, he has accfimiulated 
immense wealth, and exercises an influence wielded by few in the State. A 
lawyer by profession, thoroughly versed in the law in all its departments, he 
has been among the most successful of our practitioners. Ready, concise 
and convincing, he excelled as a speaker, without being possessed of the fire, 
the force, or the energy of the orator. Slidell in conversation, is reserved 
until excited, and then no man is more prolific in ideas, in flow of language, in 
anecdote and in tact. Shrewd, deep-searching and strong-minded, you may 
attempt to deceive or oven-each him, but you must be possessed of strong abili- 
ties, indeed, if you out-Herod this Herod. 

Slidell was appointed United States District Attorney, under General 
Jackson's administration, served repeatedly afterwards in the lower House 
of the State Legislature, and, while a member of Congress, was selected 
by the present Chief Magistrate of the United States, to act as Minister 
Plenipotentiary and Envoy Extraordinary to Mexico; With what tact, talent 
and discernment, he acquitted himself in this delicate diplomatic mission, 
(the most important one, perhaps, ever undertaken abroad by an American 
statesman,) the recent history of the country has sufficiently demonstrated. 
Suffice it to say, the name of Slidell has become honorably associated 
with a most interesting period of his country's history. W'hile alluding: 
to his career in Congress, I should not omit to mention the part taken by 
this gentleman in obtaining the remission of the fine laid upon the old Hero of 
New Orleans. If for nothing else, he may appeal to that, and claim for himself 
honor at the hands of Louisianians. 

This character, with many excellencies, abounds in contradictions. Seidell 
accumulates more, spends more, and wastes more, than any man in New Or- 
leans. While apparently yielding you his confidence, and securing yours, he 
walks quietly, composedly, into your affections, and gains every thing he wants 
wthout loss to himself The man ot liberality, the spendthrift,, the economist,- 



SKETCHES, 67 

appear to combine in his composition. What shall we say to such a character ? 
— and yet, I fear not to present it to those who know intimately the man. 

Slidell has been legislator, lawyer, financier, diplomatist ; nor has his 
career, by any means closed. Higher distinctions await him; nor is there any 
station in his adopted State that he may not hope to reach — no one that, with 
his superior abilities, he may not fill with honor. 

I have heard him termed the unscrupulous politician ; and yet, I could point 
to examples of the highest and noblest disinterestedness, that .would quickly 
give the lie to the assertion — and in his intercourse with the world, to many an 
instance of liberality and kindness. I am again induced to admire the aristoc- 
racy of John Slidell — an aristocracy which simply separates pride of char<- 
acter, and an innate confidence of superiority, from the vulgar and would-be 
aspirants after public notoriety — from public characters of little brains and little 
hearts. John Slidell is the last man to treat proudly or v/ith pursy arro- 
gance, the man with the hard hand, tlie man who toils for his daily bread. In 
his intercourse with gentlemen, he is a gentleman. I wish to accord him no 
higher claims to respect. 

John Slidell must be quite sixty years of age ; possesses expressive and 
rather handsome features, strongly indicative of the character of the man. 
About the middle height, with a figure tending to corpulency, his mien is one 
to attract attention, though it may fail at once to impress favorably the 
stranger. We may speak of energy in man ; of it, he is the very embodiment. 
Of mental power, his rise, progress and history, is a noble commentary. Sli- 
dell's, however, is by no means, a faultless character, but a superior one, iij 
truth, and one destined to leave some traces on the march of time. 



MCDONOUGH, TOURO AND CALDWELL 

The dissimilarity of character apparent in the men who form the subject of 
my present notice, is striking in the extreme. I hesitate when selecting such 
men for portraiture, yet trust that I may succeed in stamping upon my page, 
likenesses not entirely at variance with the oririi^ : = 

McDoNOUGH is a native of Baltim.orc — lo. :":r. he has now resided in 
Louisiana for more than forty years, and must he .trying towards his fourteenth 
lustre. Commencing life in New Orleans as a merchant, he was success- 
ful in business. After some years of provident arid industrious exertion, 
he purcliased the place where he now resides. Here he devoted himself 
profitably, for a time, to the cultivation of the sugar cane. For many years 
past, however, he has been engaged in the making of brick, in which he 
employs a large force. Purchasing landed property, with its rise in value he 
has become immensely rich, and is doubtless, at tiiis moment, the wealthiest 
man in Louisiana. His riches may be computed by millions, and consist 
cliiefly of lands and houses, in New Orleans, in Algiers, in different Parishes 
of the State, and in Mississippi. 

With McDoNOUGH, the colonization system has been quite a hobby — and 
he has been the means of sending many negroes to Liberia. I mean not 
to subtract one tittle from this gentleman's merits in these transactions, but can 
easily understand that in the emancipation of his slaves he has received a 
full equivalent. It is clearly demonstrable, that the slave who toils as a statu 
liber, the impelling motive of liberty controlling his exertions, will be more 
active and energetic in his master's employ, and will accomplisli more, mucli 
more, than without £"'h motive. He labors more steadily, is more useful to 
his employer, and does more- in a given time. 

Point me to a single ac^ cf generous disinterested benevolence in the career 
of this millionaire ; point 'io a single act which speaks of the beneficence of 
wealth and vast possessions — a single Abbot L?.wrence donation to any great 
charity, et eris mihi magr.ns Apollo I 

Something mcse than half a century since, a rich flour merchant in one of 
our eastern cities was taking a mornirig's walk along the suburbs. He passed 



SKETCHES. 69 

a. group of boys in the neighborhood of a brick-yard busily engaged in play. 
A lively, bright-eyed lad caught his attention. The rich man stopped and 
beckoned him to approach, and upon questioning him, Vv'as pleased with his 
sprightly manners and his intelligent answers. He soon learned liis name, and 
that his father was in very moderate circumstances. " Tell your father, my 
boy," said he, " to send you around to my counting-house to-morrow, and I will 
make a merchant of you." Sure enough, father and son were the next day at 
the appointed place, and the boy was left with the kind and benevolent patron. 
He proved -a second fatiier to tlie boy thus adopted — educated him to the 
business of a merchant's clerk, and laid, by his kindly instructions, the basis of 
his fortunes. 

Years roll on — the boy becomes a man, leaves the city of his birth, and 
ventures his bark, laden with the choice gifts of his benefactor, into the 
troubled seas of the new and growing West. He prospers — grows rich — 
becon^es a millionaire. 

■H * * * * 

Let the reader accom.pany me again to the place designated, in search of 
the kindly benefactor of that boy. 

The years that had heaped up for him his millions, had for the flour merchant 
brought reverses. The chances of trade, unfortunate speculation, ruinous 
projects, snatched from him his golden stores. The merchant jirince became 
a bankrupt. He lost his all, and in the evening of his life found himself 
dependent upon the cold charities of the world. The home of his pros- 
perity, of his riches, of his honest name, became for a time hateful to him. 
He had heard of the good fortune of his former ward — of the boy he had in 
the season of his prosperity raised from penury and educated to the wavs of 
business — to whom he had imparted the first elements of wealth — he heard the 
story of his successes, of his immense riches. The old man left his home and 
sought in the Southwest the uch millionaire. 

You v.'ill say that such a friend, such a benefactor, was welcomed — was 
received as the long absent, still beloved — that a grateful return was made 
him — that the millionaire could not have done less than have bestowed upon 
him half his fortune. The aged, poverty-blighted benefactor, it is to be hoped, 
made not his appeal in rain. I pursue no further the record. 

It is not my purpose to enter into a detailed notice of the old man, Judaii 
TouRO. He is a native of Newport, Rhode Island ; some seventy-three years of 
age, and an Israelite. A merchant here, almost since New Orleans had exist- 
ence, TouRO has devoted his life to the uses of trade. Immensely rich, he is 
little attentive to the hoarding of wealth. He moves on in the even tenor of 
his way, a philanthropist, working in silence and in secret — not living in vain — 



70 SKETCHES. 

a Hoioard in his charities, and benevolent works — a man in the noblest senso 
of tlie term — one, of whom it may be truly said : 

"Not enjoyment and not sorrow. 
Is his destined end and way; 
But to act — that each lo-morrow 
Find him farther than to-day." 

The name of James H. Caldwell has been rife on the tongues of men, 
for the last thirty years. He is by birth an Englishman — his age some fifty- 
four years. Connected with the old City Council, and since the division of the 
city into municipalities, he has served some thirteen years as an alderman ; 
and while chairman of the committee on streets and landings, was greatly 
instrumental in carrying into erFect the building of tlie wharves and the paving 
of the streets. 

His connection with various gas companies for some years past, is a dis- 
tinctive feature of his career. At one time the very soul of the Gas Company 
in New Orleans, (if we may ta.ke the liberty of granting that a corporation 
has a soul) — to Caldwell is due the chief agency in ligliting our city. In 
Mobile and in Cincinnati he has been busy in the same objects, and is so still, 
though less extensively than formerly. In this city, a stockholder where he 
was once a proprietor ; in Mobile, controlling this important business ; and he 
has recently, with the same energy that actuated him in his younger years, 
entered upon a contract for lighting the city of Lafayette. 

Caldv/ell had at one time interest sufficient to obtain from the Legislature 
a bank charter, under the auspices of which arose the Gas Bank. Industry in 
various useful and honorable pursuits, had made him rich ; but his Dank, 
volatile as the essence that gave it name, carried off on the wings of the wind 
his hundreds of thousands. Bitterly, doubtless, did this active and energetic, 
man regret that he had embarked his treasures in a craft so frail, rotten and 
rudderless. His agency here was the one great fault of his life, irreparable, 
irremediable. 

In public improvements. Caldu'ell has been ever active, ever moving. A 
million of dollars would be a small computation to mark the sums expended in 
this city through his agency in such objects. 

Caldwell's connection with the drama of the South and West, has given 
the principle coloring to his life ; and he may be considered as its legitimate 
founder in this western country. From his earliest youth devoted to tlie Thespi- 
an art — an enthusiast in his view of the beneficial influences exerted by pure and 
correct dramatic representation, he gave himself up for years to the managing 
tind tlie building of theatres — di?;plnying; himself no mean talent in ths 



SKETCHES. 71 

histrionic art. Petersburg, Cincinnati, St. Louis, Natchez, Nashville, Mobile, 
New Orleans, owe the existence of their first theatres to this active, energetic 
and enterprising man. 

.In New Orleans, however, the chosen home of Caldwell, we find the 
greatest efforts made by him for the introduction of the true and legitimate 
drama. To this point, by his munificent and splendid ofi*ers, he attracted the 
chief actors in tragedy and comedy in America ; and it is on record, that for 
sixteen nights the celebrated Cooper received from this wealthy manager the 
enormous sum of $3,333. If in New Orleans any true dramatic taste exists, 
the credit is due to him who attracted hither the great masters of the art. 
No one can doubt the beneficial effects of the pure drama upon society — and 
in introducing the means of creating a refined taste therein, Caldwell doubt- 
less felt that he Was doing good service to the country and to his own name. 

The magnificent pile that he erected in this city, the pride of the Southwest, 
was burned to the ground in 1842, and in its ruins the energetic proprietor 
buried half his fortune. The tinsel sceptre he had held so long, fell trom his 
hand and has passed to others, " no heir of his succeeding." 

Caldwell lived in an ideal world for years, surrounded by his kino-g, 
queens, knights and -parvenues ; yet he never seems for a moment to have 
forgotten tiie bustling practical world in which lie played his part. 

Wonderfully versatile in his mind and character, Caldwell is endowed with 
singular and most opposite talents ; a perfect mechanic — he served no appren- 
ticeship ; the author — the actor — the literary man — he experienced not the 
advantages of a liberal education ; ever planning, ever projecting — he is no 
visionary enthusiast. He works for the present and for future generations , 
and yet is a man of many and various fancies — an excellent adviser in public 
affairs. We shall find him the safe and useful legislator. Such a man as 
Caldwell will not work at the capitol for nothing ; he will accomplish before 
he retires from the body, some great work for his beloved city ; perhaps secure 
water navigation between lake and river — the sure and certain means of 
destroying the hateful pestilence in New Orleans. Nous verrons. 

He who studies men and their lives, cannot but be surprised at the variety 
of traits which distinguish our race. As in the countenance, we find no two 
who agree in lineaments, so it is with character. 

In my first, I trace the saving, acquisitive man, who accumulates his millions 
and lives poor in the midst of affluence — spends no more than what is sufli- 
cient to meet tlie necessities of life ; and knows little of the pleasures of 
charity, or employing while he lives to beneficent and useful purposes, the 
wealth he amasses. 

In the second. I find one wjio in accumulating wealth, casts his eves around 



7i SKETCHES. 

in search of worthy objects on whom he may bestow liberally of his abundance ; 
who, himself, uses to philanthropic purposes his stores, and trusts not his 
executors; who marks, himself, the proper objects for his beneficence; who 
visits the fatherless and the widow in the season of their adversity and adminis- 
ters to their wants ; who gives to the public library his thousands — to the cause 
of patriotism his ten thousands ; who lends to the good and active servant of 
our holy religion, his churches, his means of ministering to the people ; who 
seeks out suffering talent and neglected genius, and through his aid brings to 
lio-ht their elevating and ennobling productions — their creations and discoveries ; 
who is seldom or never seen in his charities ; who raises around him., Iking, 
monuments of praise, and in death, will create a void among the benefactors of 
his race. 

In m.y third, I find one who labors for the public more than for himself; who, 
in every movement of his life, displays a utilitarian spirit ; who projects public 
improvements and carries them to successful issues ; who, while regarding the 
useful and the beneficent, looks also to the enjoyment of his lellow-citizens — 
supplies festivals, games and amusements, and finds therein his own profit and 
gratification ; who works for his own fame while he seeks to elevate others ; 
who is neither spendthrift in his means, nor contracted in his schemes of 
benevolence. 

The favored worshipper of Mammon; the priest in the temple, who 
ministers in charity to those whom fortune forbids to approach the walls ; 
the man who seizes upon the images and scatters them abroad — Midas in his 
touch— Howard in his philanthrophy ; and for the third, I find not for so 
versatile a character suitable object of resemblance or comparison. 



PETERS AND DIMITIIY. 

The career of the eminent citizen, merchant and financier, Samuel J, 
i'ETERS, I regard as peculiarly worthy of notice. For more than a quarter of 
a century a resident of Louisiana, he owes his present distinguished position 
to his energy of character, and his untiring and persevering spirit of enterprise 
and industry. He came to Louisiana poor, and witli nothing to recommend him 
to notice or regard save a letter of introduction, wliich secured him a clerkship 
in one of our mercantile houses. Active, early obtaining the confidence of his 
employers, strictly devoted to his duties, "the boy ptoved himself the worthy 
father of the man," whose influence is now felt in every part of our city ; 
whose wealth, the sure return of good habits and careful providence, has 
become immense ; whose voice, politically speaking, is ever heard with respect 
by the party to which he belongs, and whose character, in a moral point of 
view, secures him even the esteem of violent opponents. 

Peters is a whig, and a strong one ; a bold partisan, an uncompromising 
politician, a tower of strength to his party in New Orleans. His personal 
appearance is striking, his manners winning and agreeable, and his attain- 
ments very considerable. In his manly figure, his full bust, his handsome and 
regular features, one reads much in his favor before knowing him. The 
lineaments of his countenance are expressive ; the intelligent eye, the broadly 
expanded brow, the tout ensemhle cannot escape the notice of the most careless 
observer, as bearing in them character — something above the common order 
of men. 

It may not be uninteresting to trace to his birth-place, the man I describe, 
and to allude to his ancestry. Mr. Peters was born in Canada. His grand- 
father and father were natives of Massachusetts. In his adherence to high 
church principles and to the royal authority, the former was compelled to 
leave the colony. In lieu of lands lost in his native State, he obtained from 
the English government a grant in Canada ; the son of the elder Peters went 
. to take possession of these, and while there, the subject of this narrative was 

born. I would mention also, in passing, that the grand-uncle of Mr. Peters 
10 



74 SKETCHES. 

was the celpbrated Hugh Peters, of puritan memory — a bold republican, who 
\va!= counted among the regicides, and lost his life upon the scaffold. The 
stock is a good one, and I mention it because I am not one of those who de- 
spise family names or family distinctions. 

As a member of the Council, Mr. Peters, when called into debate, is a 
clear, concise and effective reasoner. Whatever he proposes for consideration, 
is listened to with attention and respect. As a financier, he is pre-eminent, 
and it was in detecting an inaccuracy to a large amount in the treasury reports 
of the city, in 1829, that he first made known to the community his financial 
talents. His is a restless disposition — ever projecting, ever forwarding plans 
for public benefit, and for private advantage. Intrigue avails the subtle con- 
triver, where popular opposition or the will of faction exerts its sv/ay. The 
man who is never wanting to his own, has the faculty of securing the con- 
fidence and the purse of the dominant party. The Florida war, the jNIexican 
war, both measures of democratic policy — the last begun, carried on and 
sustained under democratic rule — have proved to this merchant sources of 
fortune and of wealth. They have proved crucibles, in which the provident 
and subtle alchymist has cast his supplies, and received in exchange golden 
eagles. 

The City Bank was chartered in 1830. For seventeen years, backed by 
monied influence, by the command of heavy capital, the President of this 
institution has never faltered in his progress. How he has used his powers, 
I stop not here to consider. 

New Orleans may point to this gentleman as to one of the chief movers in 
its march of prosperity, during the last twenty years. To him it owes many 
of its most important and valuable improvements. Chiefly instrumental in 
dividing the city into municipal sections, in the one where he resides, he has 
been peculiarly active. The noble edifices, the well-paved streets, the pros- 
perity of its system of public instruction, the admirable municipal arrange- 
ments there existing, all evince the activity and energy of this noted alder- 
man. It is true that the municipal revenues have scarce kept pace with the 
advancement made in public improvements ; that a heavy debt has been in- 
curred, and that there is a spirit abroad, which does not admit of the present 
generation anticipating the revenues of posterity ; yet whatever may be the 
views of the writer upon these topics, he cannot but admire the enlightened 
spirit, which in the present moment, looks forward to the prosperity, improve- 
ment and happiness of a future generation. Where a wasteful expenditure 
is observable, where improvements of a public nature are shown to be useless 
and expensive, tending solely to display, where there is in public works a 
want of that careful construction which tends to permanence, it becomes the 



SKETCHES. 75 

frientl of his country to watcla the projectors witli a jealous eye, and to see 
that tlie money taken from the people by taxation, is properly and wisely 
expended. 

I will not say that Mr. Peters has in every instance shown himself a strict 
titilitarian ; yet I cannot but speak highly of the improvements in the Second 
Municipality, in a considerable degree attributable to his influence. 

Mr. Peters is a close calculator. It is certain that while looking to the 
advancement of his section of the city, he has taken good care of his own 
interests ; that ho has enriched himself — has become wealthy ; yet I have 
never heard his fiercest opponent say that this has been at the expense of 
others. 

The beautiful system of Public Instruction that prevails in his section of 
the city, owes much to the enlightened efforts of this gentleman, though it 
should not be forgotten that other influences were at work in the first instance, 
and that the project then found opposition in Mr. Peters. Glendy Burke, 
Esq., if I mistake not, first advocated the measure in the Legislature, and 
finally Mr. Peters came into the plan. When the measure became a popular 
one, then it was that this gentleman threw his influence into the scale.* 



* The following strictures upon this passage, we take from the columns of 
the New Orleans Bulletin: 

" A writer in the Bee of Saturday, gives a vigorous, and in many respects, 
a correct sketch of our fellow-citizen. Samuel .T. Peters; but in one state- 
ment he has done that gentleman such singular injustice that we cannot re- 
frain from noticing it. He states that : 'The beautiful system of Pubhc 
Instruction that prevails in his section of the city, owes much to the enlio-ht- 
ened efforts of this gentleman, though it should not be forgotten that other 
influences were at v/ork in the first instance, and that the project then found 
op()osition in Mr. Peters. Glendy Burke, Esq., if I mistake not, first advo- 
cated the measure in the Legislature, and finally, Mr. Peters came into the 
plan. When the measure became a popular one, then it was that this gentle- 
man threw his influence into the scale.' 

" It is evident that ' W.,' who doubtless makes this statement in the belief 
that it is correct, was not a resident of New Orleans at the time of the adop- 
tion of the public school system. Had he been, he would probably have Imown 
that it liad been a favorite jroject of Mr. Peters' for several years, that in 
1840 Mr. Peters visited the public scliools of the Northern and Eastern cities, 
and procured thence and from Europe all the necessary information on the 
subject; that soon after he, Mr. Peters, v/ith the lionorable Mr. Baldwin, the 
present Recorder of the Second Municipality, and Aldeim.an Yorke, drew up 
the identical school bill, which was presented to the Legislature by Mr. Burke, 
who was also at that time a member of the Council. 

Mr. Burke, we know, was also an original and active friend of the school 
sysfera, and performed his part with unquestionable zeal and ability. The 
bill, through his eftbrts and those of others in the L'-'gislature. friendly to the 



7G SKETCHES. 

T?io MunicijDal Library, at this time one of the most valuable and well- 
selected in the United States, (containing some 6000 volumes,) in being carried 
to its present prosperous condition, in the mode by which the monies and con- 
tributions sustaining it, are collected, and in its interesting connection with 
the children of the Municipality, owes, its very existence to Mr. Peters. 
Again, the system of wharfage, by which immense sums are secured to the city, 
in the way of revenue, owes principally its origin to the exertions of this 
member of the Council. 

. But it is time that I draw this sketch to a close. In noticing an individual 
who holds so large a space in the public eye, I am aware of tlie difficulty of 
my position. I know that it is no easy matter to reconcile the prejudices of 
opponents or the admiring plaudits of friends. I have sought to steer clear 
of both, and have taken my course in media via. Unprejudiced myself, and 
aiming solely at the truth, I have sought to do justice to the man I describe. 
It is a character of opposite and singular elements. I find in him incompara- 
ble tact and shrewdness ; a merchant of liberal and wide-reaching views, the 
useful citizen, the strong partisan, tiie man never forgetful of self-interest, 



cause, became a law, and laid the foundation of our public school system — 
but to Samuel J. Peters is pre-eminently due the honor of having projected , 
and, by his efforts and influence, of having firmly established his system, 
which is now so promising of invaluable benefits to the peo])le of Louisiana. 

" We speak advisedly on the subject of the school system in the Second 
Municipality, as we were at the time perfectly familiar puid cognizant witli 
its origin and progress, and were in the original Board of Directors that or- 
ganised and first put the machine in motion. We were also well acquainted 
with th ! views and exertions of Mr. Peters on the subject, and know that 
it received his cordial support; even though, at the time, it added not a little 
to the then existing embarrassments of the finances of the Municipality. 

"It has been before attempted to deprive Mr. Peters of the credit of 
having first projected our public school system, but " W."' is the first who has 
ventured to assert, that that gentleman was opposed to it until it hud become 
popular. 

"We advise "W.," in future, to be more certain of his facts, when they 
assail the character of citizens whose eminence may induce sketches from 
his prolific, and, at times, not too scrupulous pen. 

"Before closing, we would only further observe, that Mr. Peters gave to 
the S3fstem his able and effective support, both in and out of the Council — its 
triumphant success is chiefly to be ascribed to the untiring devotion of Re- 
corder Baldwin and the citizens who, with iiim, have constituted the Board 
of Directors. 

"The services of Mr. Baldwin, from the time he was appointed President 
of the Board, down to the present time, can hardly be sufficiently estimated — 
they have been unremitted and invaluable, and will ever be remembered with 
gratitude by the community, and not tho less so, that they have been entirely 
gratuitous.'' 



SKETCHES. TT 

the close observer, the powerful controller and mover of the thoughts of other 
men, the intriguant, the model of energy and perseverance without compass, 
one difficult to fathom, often intricate in his projects, working secretly his 
course towards great results ; one whose friendship is not easily gained, and 
whose enmity is bitter, irreconcilable ; a man of good name and ancestry, who 
has yet made himself; one who 

"Trusts 110 future, liowe'er pleasant, 
Lets tlie dead past bury its dead, 
Lives ever in the living present." 

and plays no mean part in its varied scenes. 



The Superintendent of Public Schools in this State is no ordinary man. In 
intellect, gigantic; in abilities, first among our literary men; with a taste highly 
cultivated, and a mind full and richly stored with the treasures of history, of 
art and of science, Alexander Dimitry is the Creole of Louisiana who now 
ciiiefly adorns our city annals. He has studied languages, not for the purpose 
of simply knowing them, but for the legitimate object of using the happiest 
expressions as the vesture of his ideas. He has read history, not so much to 
accumulate facts, as to bring the experience of the past to bear upon the 
present. Differing from most men, whose lives have been spent among books 
he has brought the observation of the sages of the past, as well as his own, to 
the study of mankind, and in this he is an adept. A close and vigilant observer, 
a single act — a movement — a word — a glance, in his fellow-man, is an index 
of character, and through these, he reads the individual. It is the single bone 
or fossil of Cuvier, by which the artist traced the habits, mode of life, and 
character of one of a living or extinct tribe of animals. Formed in a heavy 
mould, with a large head, low forehead, shaggy eye-brows, black hair and eyes, 
dark complexion, features large and far from handsome, there is someting pecu- 
liarly striking in his whole appearance. You would easily select him among a 
thousand as a man of extraordinary characteristics of mind. 

Some forty years of age, he has passed only a small portion of his life at 
home. In Philadelphia, in Washington, this man has been worlcing, studying, 
advancing. Appointed by President Van Buren, Secretary of the Board of 
Commissioners upon Mexican claims, he exhibited liis ability as an interpreter 
of languages, his knov/ledge of international law, and national treaties, and 
proved himself, to those associated with him, a politician of nice tact and 
policy. 

Peculiarly the friend of the working classes, productions have emanated 
from his pen, v,-hich,had no revolution ever taken place in America, had been 



«78 SKETCHES, 

sufficient to have worked one — productions of suTiciAit force to make arisfo" 
cracy tremble in its strongholds, however encircled by its guardians, pride, 
wealth and power. Dimitrt is not the pretty writer ; he is not the mere 
searcher after elegant expressions — it is not dignity on stilts — ^the far-sought 
image — the fine-turned period — Gallic glitter — Addisonian sweetness — it is 
none of these. Burke, in his fullness and his beauty ; Milton, in his massive- 
ness and majesty of diction ; Carlisle, in his spirit-tones of truth and grandeur ; 
Leggett, in his logical force and living strength ; Jefferson, in his true Ameri- 
canism and political wisdom ; Channing, in his perspicuity, his vi^or and his 
truthfulness, have all been models with Dimitey, and at times he approaches 
the masters whom he imitates, Witli all his cultivation of mind, with all his 
stores of learning, in the multiplicity of books he has perused, of acquirements 
he has made, divested of all these, he manifests himself the bold original 
thinker — not the mere retailer of the thoughts of other men. Should I be 
called to select a man from among us in advance of his times, I would point 
to Alexander Dimitry as being, emphatically, that individual. 

With political tact, talent and providence, that few can boast, he has not in 
politics sought distinction. The great system of public instruction — a field 
for the efforts of the utilitarian, for the philanthropist, for the friend of his 
country — has for him greater charms than tlie ambition ot shining in legisla- 
tive halls, or wrestling with the giant intellects that control the aflairs of our 
country. He works on in a sphere, which, if far less brilliant, yet offers to a 
mind busy in working the good of the country, in presei-ving inviolate our 
noble institutions, a purer spring of utility and of pleasure. 

If it be true, tiiat upon the diffusion of education among our citizens, and 
especially among the rising generation, depends the permanency of our insti- 
tutions, then, it is to the enlightened promoter of this beneficent object — to the 
man whose whole soul, eloquence of language antl strength of mind are 
wrapped up in tliis philanthropic movement, that we should accord deserving 
praise. 

Dimitry is a democrat, as is well known ; a man of the people, and 
rising from them ; a striking and interesting example of the elevating influ- 
ences of our peculiar institutions ; an orator and a scholar who has made him- 
self distinguished, and made, too, a character fitted to adorn any station. As 
a lecturer. I have not seen his equal in Louisiana. As a speaker, he is strong, 
bold, and convincing, uttering his sentiments in clear, conclusive termiS, and in 
vigorous and massive sentences — not a word too mucli, not a word less than is 
wanted. His speeches partake greatly the character of his style ot writing. 
He abounds in metaphor, but in metaphor ever jg-^j-main to the matter. The 
tones of his voice arc full, commanding. !?or;orn'i:5 : bis gestures, elegant and 



S K E T c; H E S , 79 

finished ; his declamation, a laodel for an elocutionist. There may be a little 
art, and yet I believe him a bold student of nature. 

Ridicule and sarcasm — keen and terrible weapons in the hands of tlie skil- 
ful — are with him as playthings. When necessary, he can use them ; and 
upon whom they fall, they come as the blighting, withering frost upon the 
green pasture. With a faculty possessed by few, he makes application of the 
past to the present — a keen observer of the times, he is at home in every move- 
ments of the political world, and the events passing around him. Politics, law, 
history, religion, metaphysics, are elements in which he lives and which he has 
made his ovv'n. Singular, that one thus endowed, thus cultivated, has never 
devoted himself to either of the great professions — that such a mind should 
make literature its sole pursuit. 

I have described one, emphatically, of the people : a man who must ever be 
popular with them, for his sympathies are entirely in accordance with the 
struggling masses ; a man bold, original, energetic ; of elevated mind and 
character ; ambitious, if you please, but ambitious of honorable distinctions ; 
an orator a man of tact, of close discrimination, a far-seeing politician, one 
who, in the depth and extent of his attainments, resembled Hugh S. Legare, 
of South Carolina; in his vigorous style and subtilty of arguments, compares 
with Brownson, of Massachusetts ; one who has done little as yet that is known 
— for his time is in the future— a man, who, whatever path he had chosen, 
Avould have achieved a name, and a gi-eat one. 



GOUDON AND MARIGNY. 

In tlie character of the old republican, of the firm supporter of measures 
having for their sole object the country's good ; of the man disregarding self- 
interest, the desire of office, the smiles of power, or the claims of ambition, 
(if, in attaining these, he trampled under foot preconceived notions of right;.) 
of him who has clung to the constitution of his country, ever asserted prin- 
ciples he deemed as tending to the benefit and elevation of the masses — in a 
character like this, there is something so noble and interesting that one loves 
to contemplate, while he may fear his inability to portray it, with a correct and 
truthful pencil. 

An interesting incident occurs to my mind, which, as having considerable 
influence upon the after career of Gordon, will serve appropriately to intro- 
duce this gentleman to my readers. Leaving, at an early age, his native State, 
he travelled for the purpose of establishing himselt through this western 
country. Upon his route, he stopped at Knoxville, Tennessee. While sitting 
alone in the receptiono-oom at the hotel, a tall thin man with dark hair and 
eyes, entered the apartment, and threw liimself upon a chair. Si ruck with 
his appearance and mien, young Gordon noted him with attention. Shortly 
after a couple of men came in, and soon a Controversy commenced between 
them and the stranger, which becoming violent and angry proceeded to blows. 
The gentleman would have been overpowered had not young Gordon, too 
chivalrous to permit such unfair play, such odds against one man, darted upon 
one of the assailants. Vigorous in strength and activity, he shortly mastered 
him, nor was it long before the stranger had disposed of his antagonist. 

" To whom," said the stranger, turning to young Gordon, " am I indebted) 
for this timely and magnanimous aid ?" 

"My name," replied the young man, "is Martin Gordon, of Chesterfield 
county, Virginia." 

"And mine," said the stranger, "is Andrew Jackson — there is my hand, 
and with it my heart ; and if ever at any time hereafter, you require the aid 
of a friend, count upon him to whom you have rendered this great service.'" 



SKETCHES. 81 

And from that hour to tlie day of his death, tlie hero of the Chahnette — the 
stout republican, the man who never forsook a friend, or spared an enemy — 
liept the word he had pledged to the young Virginian. In the hour of pros- 
perity, in the season of adversity, they were friends — friends that sought of 
each other mutual aid, advice and instruction. When I consider that I write 
of liim who was the intimate friend of Jackson — who, however great his 
failings, I count as one among the gi'eatest men who have adorned the annals 
of our country's history, I feel more tjian proud of my subject, and full con- 
fidence that, armed in the bold spirit of republicanism, I shall not fail to portray 
some, at least, of the lineaments of Map.tin Gordon. 

Gordon established himself as a merchant in the Crescent city, near half 
a century since, in connection with a brother of Henry Clay. Active, indus- 
trious and energetic as a man of business, he prospered for a time, but at 
length experiencing some reverses, he left mercantile life and was appointed 
Clerk of the old Distrist Court of New Orleans. Many of the older men> 
bers of the bar will remember with what zeal and ability he discharged for 
more than twenty years, his duties in this department. The books, the ar- 
chives of the Court of that period, are a standing memorial of the exactitude 
and industry displayed in this office by Mr. Gordon, during the closing period 
of which he acted as President of the New Orleans Navigation Compan}^, for 
many years after, and until appointed Collector of the Port of New Orleans. 
This last office he held four years, and upon retiring from it was appointed 
Superintendent of the Mint, the building of which splendid edifice, now an 
ornament of our city, was entrusted to him by Government. This last ap- 
pointment closed his public life. Upon a splendid fortune, the accumulation 
of many years of industrious exertion, he retired to private life, bearing with 
him the esteem of numerous friends, and the respect of all who love probity, 
honor, and pride of character. 

As early as 1797, Martin Gordon took his position as one of the republican 
party — as a firm supporter of the policy afterwards known as that of JefFerscJn. 
Long the leader, the father of democracy in Louisiana, to him the party ever 
looked for guidance and advice. He was a worthy leader, for he was an 
honest man. He was a strong one, for he had a mind of his own, unconquer- 
able energy and strength of character. He never shrunk from the avowal of 
what he knew to be right, and with the impetuosity of the heroic Jackson, 
never hesitated to throw himself into the front fire, where principles were at 
stake. Gordon vir insciens timoris, maluit esse, quam videri bonus, is a motto 
timt might be inscribed upon his tomb. Detesting meanness in all its forms, 
he would hold no intercourse with those who stooped to its degrading influences. 
Tlic man of frank heart and pure mind, he liateJ hypocrisy, and once foiuid 



82 SKETCHES. 

in any man, from that moment ho could hold no intercourse with Martw 
Gordon. 

Adversity came at last to try a character that had ever basked in the smiley 
of fortune and of prosperity. The wreck was a terrible one. The desolating 
storm bore all away, save honor, pride of character, and the unyielding will. 
The ingrate, the worthless parasite, the hollow friend, forsook the noble craft. 
Yet still it sweeps on, calm, unyielding. Seventy-five winters, though tliey 
have brought the chills of age, have not withered the feelings of the heart. 

The kind, the hospitable old Virginian, still lives. In the memory of the 
past, and in the prosperity of his country, he feels the delight that renders old 
age happy and content ; nor has he lost even yet, the vivacity and humor, 
the wit and fondness of anecdote, that characterized his youth. 

The arched and lofty hall that time has covered with its ruins, still tells to 
the fancy the story of other and more prosperous days — of the fete, the dance, 
of joy and mirth — the frowning battlement, the moss-grown tower tell of con- 
test and of strife. Fourscore years, in the life of man, may tell a tale of like 
comparison. 

General Jackson in the closing period of his life, came occasionally to New 
Orleans, and while here ever tarried with the old friend of his youth. There 
is something truly touching in the record that on his last visit to our city, 
these old men, on the verge of the grave, kneeling together prayed at the same 
family altar. They had completed their pilgrimage. The ambition of life, its 
cares, its toils and its struggles, the strifes of party, no longer affected the 
veterans. The friends met foi- the last time — the hero of seventy-four, the 
patriot of seventy, embraced for the last time. The final farewell spoken, 
it was then that they supplicated the great Friend of the human family to 
unite them in the mansions of the blest beyond the grave. 

" Lives of great men— all remind us, 
We can make our lives sublime, 
And departing, leave behind us 
Foot prints on the sands of time. 

Foot prints, that perhaps another. 
Sailing o'ejr life's solemn main, 
A forlorn and ship-wrecked brother, 
Seeing, may take heart again." 

Had the old Creole, Bernard Marigny — Rip Van Winkle like — gono 
to sleep in 1805, and awakened in 1830, he would have found himself the 
wealthiest man in Louisiana — worth not less, at this time, probably, than twenty 
millions of dollars. In 1805, he was emancipated, being at that time some 



SKETCHES. 83 

eighteen years of age. He has devoted himself to tlie pursuit of wealth, with 
miser-like zeal, though caring no more for money than the veriest spendthrift 
in the land. 

Ever full of speculations, fortune has seldom smiled upon him, nor has he 
been endowed with that virtue, which in Midas, turned every thing he touched 
to gold. He has considerable property — may, perhaps, be accounted wealthy. 
It may not be too much to say, that Bernard Marigny has expended, in 
various ways, more money than any man now living in Louisiana. 

Marigny is good looking, a little bent with years, about the middle height, 
his eyes piercing, black and restless. The man who eats with his fingers, dis- 
carding the luxury of knives and forks ; who, in his address, is hasty, forward' 
and regardless of ceremony ; who sings, at all times, in and out of season, 
whether on the steamboat, at table, or in the counting house ; has, in times 
pust, been " the glass of fashion and the mould of form, a mirror in which our 
young men dressed themselves." In that day, when the Creole held the prece- 
dence in court and hall, young Marigny was among the first, the leader of the 
dance, the very soul of mirth and merriment. At our saturnalia, at the ball, 
the opera — none more distinguished than Marigny. I shall not enter upon his 
private history ; suffice it to say, that in early life he married the daughter of 
Governor Morales, who bi-ought him a princely fortune. Eccentric — peculiar 
in his manners and character, it is a picture difficult to portray — one to which I 
find it impossible to do anything like justice. He has exerted great influence 
upon his contemporaries — to the Creoles, has been a model — nor has the influ- 
ence that attended the youthful Marigny departed from the present genera- 
tion. 

The family of Marigny is the oldest in the State. Three of his lineal as- 
cendants lie buried within the walls of our old Cathedral. The monument 
tells of high honors, of noble distinctions. His three immediate ascendants 
were all chevaliers of the order of St. Louis — honors which they divided with 
princes. They were men who adorned the early history of Louisiana, and 
figured among her statesmen and her warriors. Bernard Marigny still, I 
believe, cherishes the memory of his noble ancestry ; he clings to titles of 
honor, to the insignia of rank, as youth clings to its first love ; and yet, sine© 
he was old enough to take part in politics, in every change of party or of faction, 
he has adhered to the democracy. 

This old Creole has ever been among the leading politicians of the State ; 
has twice unsuccessfully run for the gubernatorial chair; has repeatedly 
served in both houses of the Legislature ; has been President of the Senate ; 
served as a member in both conventions called for making and revising the 
Siate Constitution ; and has filled numerous official stations of trust and honor. 



S4 SKETCHES. 

I would mention, in passing, that MAniGNY, witii three other veterans, the Hon. 
Henry Bry, for many years Judge in the Parish of Ouachita, and at one time 
superintendent of pubhc works ; tlie Hon. Henry Johnson, our present Senator 
in Congress ; and General Morgan, of St. Tammany, a time honored and noble 
relic of the early days of Louisiana — alone survives' of the members of the 
Convention that framed the old Constitution. Marigny alone, of these vete- 
rans, had the singular honor p^nd distinction of serving his State on these two 
occasions. 

While Marigky was as yet a loy, a stranger cf illustrious port and 
bearing, from the old world, sought his father's hospitality, and long sojourn- 
ed beneath his roof. He was one who, proscribed at home, a wanderer 
and a fugitive upon the earth, had sought the asylum that young America held 
out to the victims of tyranny and proscription. Providence seems to have sent 
him among us, to observe the prosperity and beauty of onr institutions, that, at 
a future day, he might dispense, as far as practicable, their blessings to thirty 
millions of the human family. From the elder Marigny, this noble stranger 
received more than hospitality — money to meet his wants and to bear him on 
liis waj^ 

Years passed on, a revolution came, and the illustrious fugitive was raised 
to the throne of his ancestors, a Repviblican King — one richly taught in the 
schools of adversity, of poverty and of danger. Young Maeignt, recalling 
the time when the Duke of Orleans had been his father's guest, and the bene. 
fits conferred upon him by his family, sought the Court of France. The King 
of the French received the young Am^erican with distinguished honors and 
with that respect, which, in the old world, is awarded to princes alone, (for in 
the sight of Louis Philippe every true American was a native born princej 
Marigny, amid tlie blaze of royalty, the insignia of rank, forgot not, we may 
suppose, the past history of his ancestry — their title to a place among the 
French nobility, but remembered, doubtless, with still greater pride, that he was 
an American, one of a great nation, whose title to honors rests on talent, en 
virtue, on devotion to their country and her institutions. 

Republicanism, in its godlike simplicity, may laugh at tlie pomp of royalty, 
and point with manly pride at her institutions so void of form and display, yet 
royalty manifested in such a prince as Louis Philippe, had, v/ithout doubt, its 
attractions for Bernard Marigny. Pride, on this occasion, must have found 
place in the bosom, both of tlie Royal Prince and tlie simple Republican. The 
latter was in thepreselice of a powerful monarch who was under obligations to 
his family ; the former, surrounded by all that may aggrandize the heart o^ 
man, could not but remember that the American had known him in adversity' 
m want, suid a fugitive. 



SKETCHES. 85 

Maricny excels as a public speaker, is full of fire and fimcy, and cannot but 
arrest the attention and bold the hearer captive. Aboundino- in o-esture 
sparkling with witticism, and biting with sarcasm, bringing before his auditor 
the past with all the truthfulness and reality of events now passing, he pos- 
sesses all the enthusiasm of his race, and is an admirable specimen of the 
Creole orator. Mirabeau, ever ready, ever true to the present thought of the 
multitude, by a word restrained, by a word moved to action. Twenty years 
ago, Mariony, in the influence he possessed, in his sway over our Creole popu- 
lation, might, in the above respects, have compared favorably with that greatest 
of the revolutionary orators of France. At present, still retaining much of 
the fire of his youth, his eloquence, though of an uncommon and superior 
order, falls unheeded upon the ear, and has ceased to influence or control. 

Marigny is active, restless, ever projecting, never finishing. He is ambi- 
tious of political sway, fond of applause, simple, unostentatious. It is sur- 
prising when one observes the career of this eccentric man, to see how many 
parts he has played upon life's theatre. With prospects, such as seldom attend 
the young man in entering upon his career in America; the heir to immense 
wealth, of illustrious family, and a finished education — to what a heio-ht of 
greatness he might have aspired. When Creole influence was at its acme, 
some twenty-five years since, Marigny was among the first of our youno- 
men, was esteemed, respected and beloved. With a liberal and careless hand 
he dispensed favors about him, and spent a princely patrimony. He did not 
like Martin Gordon, make his own fortune, nor did he know like him the value 
of money, nor how to employ it beneficently. The treasures that a century's 
industry had amassed, pleasure, chance, and a bounty that could scarce be call- 
ed liberality, have dissipated. Gordon did not spend his fortune himself — but 
Marigny can now summon to his fancy the ghosts of departed millions, that 
he himself has sown to the winds. As a moral picture, I know not the charac- 
ter in Louisiana so worthy of study and contemplation as that of Bernard 
Marigny. Louis Philippe, Santamar, (the unhappy victim of Mexican bar- 
barity,) Julian Poydras, ane numerous others, cluster around his ng,me and 
give to this true embodiment of Creolism an interest that makes the writer 
loth to quit his subject. I leave him, and leave him with the wish tha.t he had 
better improved the advantages of education ; that he had better used the gifts 
of fortune ; that he had been one to whom the present generation of Creoles 
that is passing, and the one pressing upon their steps, might point as to au 
example of moral grandeur — of exalted character. 



ERRATA, 

Page 14, 5th line, for poitics, resid politics. 
" " 6th line, for adore, read adorn. 

" 23, 11th line, for Thomas G. Collins, read Thomas W. Collins. 

" 48, 19th line, for surpassing him, read Maurian excels. 

" 55, 22d line, for exaraplars, read exemplars. 

" 56, 36th line, for spiritiielle, read spiri/ncl. 

" 57, in note, for T. G. Collins, read T. W. Cullins. 

" 72, 6th line, for christian, read active. 

*' 77, 2d line, for compass, read compare. 



U) t 



LBAg?9 



